Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-03-01

ou' VI HIS apparently dmltleSS from
tier. to get the land into cultivation
by sturdy homesteaders, is preparing
to buy part of it back to get it out
of production.
But land economists in the Depart
ment of Agriculture who have laid the
groundwork for the land purchase pro-
gram, for which an initial allotment
OF $25,OO0,O00 has been made, do not
figure that the Government will be
"gypped" in the deal.
Millions of acres were sold years
ago to swell public revenues, although
the prices were so low the revenue
was disappointment. In buying ii
back, Uncle Sam probably will not
pay, on the average, much more than
the price at which he sold although
theoretically, the land has been sim.
proved" these many years. More.
over, hundreds of thousands of acres
were granted in payment of wages
and pensions due ex-soldiers.
One of the reasons Uncle Sam i.
so willing to buy some of it back is
that he has decided it was expensive
even as gift, to those who received
it. 1t is so poor that it is impossible
for anyone, under ordinary conditions
to make living from it by farming
1t is being wasted and lost because
unsuited for cultivation, and it is pro
posed to put it under public owner
ship so that it can be used for Other
purposes and conserved.
This land the Government propose.
to buy is called "submarginal" -thai
is, it is so unproductive that more eff
fort is put into the land than the re
sulting crop is worth.
The program is not calculated great
ly to reduce agricultural surpluses
That job is still to be left to the AAA
Submarginal land produces little.
Rather, it is a plan to mop up
gradually and with care areas tina
really are rural slums" from thu
standpoint of the standard of living
the land affords its occupants.
In the process of rapid settlement
each depression and war produced 1
fresh wave of youthful and jobles
settlers to find new lands in the West
Before the rush was halted attempt
had been made to open up some ver7
poor land. At least that is the pic
ture drawn by Government land stud
les.
While many old farms were aban
doned as result of the competition
of crops from the fresh lands, man,
persons, particularly of the Older gen
erations, continue to cling to the worn
deforested, eroded soil that is Thea
home.
The result is many partly settled
partly abandoned areas, both east am
west, where a sparse population still
requires public maintenance of schools
local governments and roads whiel
often add to the tax burden of richie,
communities nearby.
The ideal master land plan" woult
consolidate farming operations on thu
best land, abandon some lands alto
gether to forests, parks, grazing, w1lt
life preserves, watershed protection o.
erosion control, and settle some of TIN
population in combination ag1icnltur
al-industrial villages
Those who remained would maxi
marginal farms out Of several sub
marginal farms by using the bettel
lands of each, and perhaps earn par
of their living by working in the for
este.
Officials recognize it viii requirt
several administrations to see the pol
lev through. All those on subnargin
al holdings cannot suddenly be in
duced to abandon their homes, MOI
can inducements in the shape of gar.
den villages be provided suddenly.
There are other problems, too, such
as how to take care of business inter
ests and local government officials
serving submarginal areas that might
be abandoned almost entirely.
Submarginal lands are located In
three principal areas, the Appalachian
and Piedmont regions extending from
New England into the South, cut-ove1
lands bordering the Great Lakes, and
the dry region along the western bor-
der of the Great Plains.
Good land, however, is to be found
in all these areas, and submarglnal
lands may be found scattered through
the best farming districts.
abandoned farms" began appear
ing years ago. Studies Of thirteen
I ~ 4o,,r,s ~. townships. in Vermont,