The Hattiesburg news., 1910-09-30

ing 10 u LOtdi OI 01o,iAV dSIOS, arc
now lying absolutely idle.
"This does not indicate much prog
ress in the bona fide settlement of the
country" said Mr.. Potter "On tim
Der claims held by 100 settlers, the
total area under cultivation Is only
$40 acres, or an average of ST acres to
each claim" An examination of tim
ber lands taken by homestead settlers,
he added, showed clearly that very
large portion has not been cultivated,
but has been sold for it's timber or
abandoned after the timber had been
sold and cut from the land.
Economical Waste.
at is economically wasteful to clear
land for farming where a farm will
not be permanent" he continued IA
nomad farmer with a trail of used-up
land behind him impoverishes, not en-
riches, the country"
The various laws enacted in the in
terest of the national forests were ex-
planned by Mr.. Potter. He told OF
the acts leading up to the passage of
the Forest Homestead law, providing
for the settlement of the agricultural
lands. "The law first of all" he
said, placed upon the Secretary of
Agriculture the responsibility of de-
termining which of the lands were
chiefly valuable for agriculture and
might be occupied for agricultural
purposes without injury to the forest
reserves and which were not needed
for public purposes"
Lands To Be Listed.
"The Secretary of Agriculture he
continued, in the exercise of his dis
cretion requires that only lands which
can be cultivated will be listed under
the Forest Homestead law, but
wherever there is adjacent land which
is valuable only for grazing purposes,
the listing of an area of grazing land
equal to that of the cultivated lands
is allowed, providing the entire area
does not exceed 100 acres"
"Up to June 80, 1870" continued the
Associate Forester, applications had
been received from 17,167 persons for
the listing of lands under the provis-
ions of the Forest Homestead law.
| Of these 1854 have been rejected be-
cause the land applied for was found
to be chiefly valuable for its timber
or was needed for public purposes,
and 2,756 applications have been with
drawn. A total of 5,647 applications,
covering an area of 626,773 acres, hav-
ing been approved and the land rec.
commended for listing. The lands ap-
piled for in the remaining ALTO appli-
cations have not yet been examined
on account of the inability of the linn
tied number of men available to meet
the growing demand for their SER
vices, but it is expected that favorable
action will be taken in large num-
Der of these.
Purpose of The Department.
1T is not the purpose of the Depart
ment of Agriculture to open all culti-
vable timber lands to entry immedi-
ately upon the removal of the timber
in excess of an amount equal to the
agricultural value Of the land" said
Mr.. Potter, in concluding, unless 1t
is evident that the land will be per-
manently more valuable for agricul-
tural use than for forest purposes, but
special attention is being given to the
working out of practical solution of
the problem which presents itself in
determining the agricultural values of
cultivable timberlands in order that
Just as fast as there is bona fide
demand for the occupancy of these
lands by actual settlers, who will
make their homes upon them, the
lands may be available for the use
which will do the most towards the
development of the country and the
most for the permanent good of all