Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-15
LAND UTILIZATION
FARLEY IS CALLED
Hyde Conference May Formu-
late Program of Farms
Retirement.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associat ted Press.
CHICAGO, November l4-After $50
years without a formulated land policy,
the United States abruptly faces the
need for a program TO protect the eco
nomic and social values of its 900 900 900
acres in farms.
To this end Secretary Hyde of the
Department of Agriculture and the As
ISOLATION of Land Grant Colleges and
Universities have called the first land
utilization conference in history into
session here November 10 to 81.
States have studied the subject but
rever before has the National Govern
ment moved so broadly to regulate the
use of public and private domain. From
colonial days it has been assumed that
all Cllltivable land was destined to be
used to produce food and fiber and that
the sooner it could be put to that pur-
pose the better.
Will Be Base of Legislation.
The conference is a frank refutation
of that theory, an open admission that
too much land is being cultivated and
a signal that farms not paying the cost
of production must be retired If relief
for agriculture is to be effective. The
conferences recommendations are ex-
pected to form the base OF State and
rational 10 1slation to remedy overpro-
duction. lnaladjustmenS OF crops. tax
delinqu ncy and farm abandonment.
Secretary Hyde says the way has been
pointed to by certain of the New Eng
land and Great Lake States.
Wisconsin has ,law enabling coun-
ties to take ever tax delinquent lands
and make forests out of them. New
York is spending So, 0O0. 900 a year to re-
forest waste lands. Of the 30,000,000
acres in New York, 22000000 at one
time was in farms There now is only
Ia. 900 900. which means that 100000
acres have been retired. Gov. Roosevelt
says 20 per cent of the remainer should
be turned into permanent forests and
pastures.
New Light on Land.
Secretary Hyde says recent upheavals
in the supply and demand OF farm prod
uctS throw new light on the need for
land utilization.
On the demand side, displacement OF
work animals by power-driven machin-
cry is removing the need for millions OF
tons of corn, oats and hay. Changes in
diet are lessening the demand for some
foods and increasing the demand Tor
Others Export demand is narrowed by
the recovery of European farm produc-
| ton from the effects of the war
On the supply side technical changes
are bringing great semi-arid tracts into
| cultivation, not only in the United
| States, but also in Russia, Canada, Aus
| tralia and Argentina. Labor saving
machinery is promoting the cultivation
| of low-yield areas. Production is out
running consumption in much of the
! world.
| The fundamental need. Secretary
! Hyde says, is for an inventory of land
| resources an estimate of food and fiber
! needs and an attempt to match output
! against requirements.
Food Pressure on Producers.
1--WE used to worry about the pres
! sure of population on the food supply"
| Secretary Hyde said. Now we're be-
| thinning to worry about the pressure OF
the food supply on the population pro-
| 6ucing it.
This change in point of view is one
| of the most significant changes that
| has occurred in years. 1t has at last
brought discussion of the status of ag-
riculture to the FORE
| One of the main things Secretary
! Hyde wishes to avoid is the bringing OF
new land into farm production. While
! The Department Of the Interior has
| agreed to discontinue reclamation Of
| arid lands there still is the prospect
| that within the next 10 years some
! 1000 900 acres will be added to the
I farm area in California, Arizona and
| Nevada by construction Of the Hoover
| Dam in the Colorado River.