The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-10-17
and made profitable for

acres can I've reclaimed and made profitable fO-
agriculture,
5 The nn.ievelopei swamp lands lie chiefly in
ti",fsi',. III The states along the Atlnnic and guf
rnast>. In the Mississippi delta and in Missouri.
Indiana. Michigan. Minnesota Wisconsin and
California.
What amount nj land in It's natural state unfit
for firm homes can be made suitable for cultiva-
ton by drainage only thorough surveys and
studies Will develop. 1t Is known. however. that
authentic figures show more than 15.OO,OOO acres
have been reclaimed for profitable farms. most of
winch lies in the Mississippi river valley.
The amount of cut-over lands in the United
States. Of course, 1t Is impossible In ap-
proclamation to estimate. These lands. however.
lie largely In :le south Atlantic and gulf states,
lake states and the Northwestern states. rough
estimate of their number is about 2OO.OOOOW
'acreS-thnt Is. Of land suitable for agricultural
development. substantially all of this cutOver or
I"egetl"fr lnnd is In private ownership The full
Of this land to he developed Is largely due
tn inadequate method of approach Unless
new policy Of development Is worked out In CO.
operation between the federal government, the
states and the individual owners II greater part
Of II will remain unsettled and uncutivated.
The undeveloped cu-over land> lie chiefly In
the Pacific Northwest particularly In Washing
ton and oregon). in the lake states minnesota.
Michigan and wisconsin,. and In the south At
antc and gulf cosal states (virginia. North and
South CarOnn, GeOrgn. Florida. Alabama, Mis-
sissippi. Louisiana and Texas).
Any plan for the development of land for the
returning soldier will come face face with the
fact that new policy will have to meet the
conditions. The of free cheap land in the
United States has passed We must meet the
new conditions of developing lands In advance
security must. to n degree. dispace speculation.
There are certain tendencies which must be
faced frankly In our consideration OF policy for
land to the homecoming soldier. First. the drift
to farm tendency. The experience OF the world
shows without question that the happIest people.
the best farms and the soundest political cOndI-
tion found where the fnrner owns the home
and the farm lands. The growth Of this ten
dency in America shows increase Of 30 per
cent for the 20 years between 1890 and. 1910.
Second the drift to urban life. In 1890 of the
total population of the United States. 295 per
cent of our people resided In cities and !O.5 per
cent In the country. At the census OF 1910. 49,.
per cent resided In cities and 53.7 per
mained in the country.
IT Is evident that since the in Europe there
has been decided increase In tho trend toward
the city because of Industrial conditions. The
adoption by the United States OF policies In
Grams will also contribute TO the anellor.ition of
these two dangers of Americas life.
A plan of land development whereby Ind IS
developed in large areas. subdivided into inh
vidual farms then sold to actual. BON iiie farm
ers longtime nay,nent basis, has been IN
force not only in the United States under the
reclamation act but also in many other countries
for several years. 1t has proved complete
cess. In Denmark. Ireland. New Zealand and the
Australian commonwealth 1t has completely