Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-12-23
SWEETHEART WRITES
ON LAND CLEARING
Sees Great Future for Villas
County AS Result of Land
Clearing Campaign for
Year of 1922

The prosperity OF v has county ~
very largely limited by the area OF
land now cleared. In the past, we
have been able to depend on the lum-
| Der industry. If we were in business,
the large lumber company with their
payroll and monthly expenses and pur-
chases, made possible living for a
great many people of different kinds.
In the past we did not realize that the
usual practice of numbering which has
wooded area was a losing proposition
from the standpoint of the community
as whole The more active and pros
porous the lumber company and the
lumber community, the more quickly
was the great natural resource re-
moved With every carload of lumber
and lumber products, particularly with
every carload of raw lumber logs, the
community is that much poorer. The
removal of timber means not only
the removal of actual wealth of the
community but it means the, ultimate
removal of jobs in the community
Obviously, it is much to be regretted
that Wisconsin in this modern day
has failed to realize that the timber
crop should have made itself self
perpetuating. The lumber industry has
taken all while the taking was good,
thinking not for the future of them
selves or of the community where
they lived. This means that now, Viii
as county, northern Wisconsin, and
the entire nation is confronted with
an enormous area of cut-over land,
not becoming more valuable but rath-
er becoming less as the years go on
1t is only by reclaiming this land
that we may expect to continue the
prosperity of these communities.
Either crop of timber or a crop of
some other kind must be growing on
this land There is room for timber;
there is room for farms. Just now
the quickest most obvious scheme is
to cultivate the land for the usual
farm crops and agricultural products.
In our preparation of the land for
agriculture, we do not assume that
there is not room for forestry inter-
ests when they are so organized as
to carry out definite program.
OF vital interest now to the, settler,
to the business man, and to the folks
of Villas county, is the putting as
much as possible of this land into i'm
mediate production. Cleared land in
Villas county will produces good crops,
will make for fine homes and fine
folks and the futures of us who live
in this county seems almost entirely
dependent on the development along
agricultural lines.
We can get new cleared acres in
two ways: first, we can encourage
and increase the rate, of clearing on
the farms we now have; second, we
can, by advertising, by careful devel-
opment work, increase, the number of
farms in the county. Villas county lis
now launching campaign to place
her in the forefront among the coun-
ties promoting better development in
the state. Marinette county recently
closed a second year in her great land
clearing program. The land clearing
which through cooperation has
enabled the farmers of that county to
clear five-yes even ten times as much
land as the same farmers formerly
cleared in the same length of time.
Why was this possible? 1t is ques-
ton which Eagle River and Villas
county folks can well afford to ask
1 and receive the answer. If Marinette
county farmers and business people
were able to cooperate and get such
results, then Villas county people can
cooperate and get comparatively good
results. What is needed? First, en-
thusiasm; leadership. In this respect
Villas county is very fortunate Mr.. o.
E. Gibson, Agricultural Agent for Villas
county is going to be the hub of the
land clearing movement. He is plann-
ing on spending the major portion
of his time in carrying on a land
clearing program because he feels that
the thing that now limits prosperity
and happiness in Villas county more
than anything else is her lack OF
cleared land. He has studied the prob
lem thoroughly from all angles and
wants to do the thing next year that
will be of most benefit to all of the
people in Villas county. He feels that
land clearing is his project. While he
will do things along other lines, the
major effort will be land cleared to
| make their farm nroductiva and tc