Evening star., 1940-12-01
Development Of
SubmorginoI Lond
By Frederic J. Huskin..

submarginal. This land policy, forced
upon Federal and State governments by
conditions unforeseen SO years ago,
vation program. Although in its infancy,
accomplishments of the policy 50 far
point unmistakably to q major success.
Submarginal land Is farm area not
sufficiently fertile to produce a salts
factory living. There being no profit
from the Use of such land for farming
purposes, the alternative is to put it to
some other use, such as forest produc.
ton, wild life conservation or cattle
raising.
More than 100000 acres, or nearly
one-fifth Of the cultivable acreage Of
the Nation. are classified as this type
OF land. No part Of the country is free
from these improbable acres, and as q
consequence, there is widespread inter-
est In what is being done TO convert
them into productive use of some sort.
The causes that resulted in so much
misused land are many. The idea of
the first settlers was to utilize the wild.
erness fully, either by killing the beasts
that roamed it. cutting timber or culti-
waiting the land it covered. Unfortun-
ately, in many instances they did all
these with degree of recklessness that
helped to bring about much of the DAM
age now demanding repair. The pioneer
spirit, worthy as it was, held to the con-
viction that each man was entitled to
unrestricted ownership of a piece Of
land. The idea was more than individ-
ual or local, for when the new Nation
was formed millions of acres of land were
given away to encourage settling. Many
thousands of families were permitted,
and even urged, to settle on lands not
suficient Of production to yield them an
adequate living.
The placing of land into the hands of
the people was a great objective, and
IL did much good in helping to populate
the country. However. in accomplishing
the objective many abuses arose. Prin.
cipal among these was the intensive cul.
tivation of land without regard to its
future. There was no guidance and no
great incentive, for the farmer knew
that when his land would no longer pro.
duce he could acquire, and often at little
or no price, more virgin acres The re-
peating OF this process continued until
the rim of the West was reached.
This In itself was bad enough, but
there followed many years of unscien-
tific farming. Rotation of crops, terrace
ing and the application of other prac.
tices to conserve soil and prevent erosion
came long after 1875, and were practiced
by the majority of farmers only after
the turn of the century. Unfortunately,
a large per cent of them do not vet
apply economic methods in the cultiva.
ton of their land.
The abuse of land did not attract pub
Lie attention until 1t began to affect tax
receipts Of the States. Since property is
taxed on valuation basis, assessors
reports began to show smaller values
resulting in less taxes. Moreover, there
appeared the problem of selling land for
taxes. The farmer who could not pay his
: land tax because he was not making suf-
flcient income. or because he decided the
land was not worth the tax imposed, per-
mitted his acres to go by default.
State governments that once fostered
and promoted land developments are now
seeking methods of dealing with millions
Of acres of improbable land of no tax
able value. For example, New York in
1887 amended its constitution so as to
appropriate s19,000,000 annually for a
period Of 10 years for the purpose Of
purchasing submarginal lands for refor-
estation.
Many States are encouraging land
owners to reforest their submarginal
lands, through the payment of bounties
and by granting tax exemptions and
lower tax valuations. In States having
a timber-yield tax, counties and town.
ships are compensated for loss of reve-
nue. when lands are classified as sub.
marginal Several pay bounties on for.
est plantations. while some exempt par
tally or totally from taxation the value
OF land or the growth, or both, where the
land Is in immature forest.
The fact that much of this submarginal
land is cultivated by tenants makes the
problem more difficult to solve, for while
it is one problem. to retire the land. it
is another and greater problem to retire
or resettle tenants. There are nearly
100000 farm families occupying about
S5,000,000 acres that are incapable Of
providing them an adequate living.
But this vast problem that involves 50
much of the Nations soil and millions of
its citizens is being effectively attacked.
Within the past seven years the Federal
Government has purchased 1885, ,081
acres Of this misused land at a cost of
$49, 1853 ,293. For lack of sufficient funds
not all OF these acres have been treated.
but sundry projects are being carried on
by relief labor and other assistance. and
all working on long-range program. un-
der scientific guidance for the ultimate
return of this land to profitable use.
More than 100000 acres have been re-
leased to States, counties, organizations
and individuals for some sort Of recrea-
ton or other use.
The Federal Government is not devel-
oping this land-use program single
handed. States, counties, communities
and individuals are assisting. In some
States plan for dealing with submar-
ginal land was in operation before
national assistance was available, and
in such cases State and local plans are
co-ordinated with Federal activities. In
all instances where there are agricul-
tlIral adviser Uroyyr,S the advire op5 rac