planning committees further suggested a reduction of almost 20 percent in the acreage of tobacco. On the other hand, increases of 20 to 30 percent in the acreage of hay, or in the acreage of hay and pasture which might be substituted for hay, were indicated. Although the State college specialists and the county planning committees were not always in exact agreement on the acreage of the several crops needed, their recommendations were usually in the same direction, and when aggregate acreage of crops in any particular area or region was considered, the recommendations were closer than those for any individual crop.

The regional adjustment and county planning work were both continued through 1936. The several State colleges are cooperating with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics in a series of studies dealing with selected areas or special problems in each State, while the county planning committees are comparing their estimates of adjustments needed in the interest of agricultural conservation with the estimates of the State college specialists in an effort to arrive at a set of estimates upon which there is general agreement. In addition, the county planning committees are working out a series of estimates of the probable effect upon acreage and production of a sound land-use program which would include the retirement of submarginal land and shifts between enterprises which seem clearly desirable and practical, as well as changes recommended from the standpoint of soil conservation.

RECOMMENDATIONS INDICATE GOALS

This work indicates the goals toward which the agricultural conservation program should be directed. These goals, of course, will need to be modified from time to time according to current or prospective economic outlook for the commodities most important in each region. Furthermore, the progress of the program in any desired direction is limited from year to year by the amount of money available for carrying out the agricultural conservation. But if agreement can be reached on needed acreage changes and on desirable soilconserving or soil-building practices, the first step toward a stable and continuing agricultural conservation program will have been taken. This sketch indicates the regional differences in the agriculture of the Nation and the steps which the Agricultural Adjustment Administration is taking to assure that the knowledge of both farmers and State specialists will be utilized in developing the agricultural conservation program. The actual adjustment or types of adjustments needed in each region are considered in the following paragraphs.

III. THE CORN BELT PROBLEM

The Corn Belt, stretching across the Midwest, is the agricultural heart of the Nation. Throughout this region the land is level with deep, warm, black soils rich in lime, nitrogen, and organic material. These soils are remarkably fertile and, because they are associated with high day and night temperatures, ample rainfall, and a reasonably long growing season, are almost ideal for corn production. Although corn is the most important crop, oats, barley, wheat, and hay are also important. The small grains are sown in the fall after corn cultivation is over and before harvesting is started, thus serving as excellent nurse crops for establishing hay and pasture crops.

The feed grains and hay produced in the Corn Belt are largely marketed in the form of livestock. Approximately 65 percent of the corn and 75 percent of the hogs commercially slaughtered in the United States are produced in the Corn Belt and the closely associated general farming region. In addition, the great bulk of the grain-fed cattle coming to market, as well as a considerable portion of the country's sheep and lambs, chickens, and dairy cattle are accounted for in the Corn Belt.

Moderate sheet erosion, with occasional gullies, occurs over much of the region, and moderate to severe sheet erosion with frequent gullies is found on small areas along the southern edge of the region and over much of the western and southwestern sections. Some wind erosion occurs also along the western and southwestern border of the region. Farmers in the Corn Belt have been using a greater proportion of their land for soil-depleting crops, especially corn, than was desirable from the standpoint of conservation and good farm management. Even on the level soils, where erosion is not a serious problem, continuous overcropping constitutes an uneconomic and unwarranted drain upon the fertility of the land and tends to cut down yields.

CHANGE TO LESS INTENSIVE FARMING RECOMMENDED

In general, the chief changes recommended by county planning committees and State specialists are reductions in the acreage of corn and oats with a corresponding increase in the acreage of soybeans, hay, and pasture as compared with the acreages which prevailed up to about 1934. These changes are designed to result in a less intensive type of farming, to check soil erosion and soil depletion, and to remove some of the poorer land from cultivation. Altogether, the county committees recommended that the acreage of corn should be maintained at a level about 14 percent lower than the acreage which they thought would prevail without an agricultural program, while the State college specialists recommended that the acreage be maintained at a level 20 percent lower. Both groups recommended that the acreage of small grains, oats, barley, and wheat should be maintained at about 7 to 8 percent under the acreage which would be expected without an agricultural program, and that the total acreage of soilconserving crops should be increased about 30 percent above the level which prevailed in 1928-32 or which would be expected without a

program.

SHIFT NEEDED FOR ECONOMIC REASONS

This shift, from the viewpoint of soil-conserving aims, is in the same direction as the shift needed at present from the economic, or price, standpoint. Corn is not only the most important soil-depleting crop in the Corn Belt, but it is also the chief feed grain, and the chief adjustment problem of the Corn Belt centers around the feed grain and livestock situation.

From the World War through 1933, the average annual production and disappearance of corn was about 2,600,000,000 bushels, with about 65 percent of the acreage and over 75 percent of the production accounted for by the Corn Belt and the transition areas surrounding, For the period just ahead, however, it is doubtful that the requirements for corn will be maintained at the old level. At present, the number of hogs on hand is almost 30 percent under the 1928-32 average, and

if one-half to two-thirds of this difference is made up by the prospective increase during the next year or two, it is probable that the requirements of corn for hogs will be 125,000,000 to 175,000,000 bushels less than the average in 1928-32. In addition, the number of work stock has declined enough to release another 50,000,000 to 75,000,000 bushels, and chicken numbers are still under the 1928-32 level, while the requirements for dairy and beef cattle, sheep and lambs, and for industrial uses, seed, and direct consumption have not materially changed.

These shifts, together with some increase in the efficiency of feeding grain that may be expected because of the use of increased acreages of hay and pasture and the experience of farmers with short rations in 1934-35 and again in 1936-37, indicate that an average annual corn production of 2,300,000,000 to 2,400,000,000 bushels is enough for prospective requirements through the next several years, provided adequate storage stocks are carried.

In general, the 1936 agricultural conservation program for the Corn Belt encouraged desirable shifts in acreage and adoption of erosion-preventing and soil-building practices. Grants at an average rate of $10 per acre for the United States, varying among farms and counties in proportion to the productivity of crop land, were offered for shifting up to 15 percent of the acreage in the general soil-depleting base to soil-conserving crops. Grants also were offered for the adoption of a wide range of soil-building practices, including the seeding of alfalfa, clovers, and legume mixtures, the use of soybeans and cowpeas as soiling crops, the application of limestone, and the planting of forest trees.

IV. THE COTTON-BELT PROBLEM

Growing and marketing of the cotton crop is the principal occupation of both agricultural and nonagricultural workers throughout the Cotton Belt. Cotton is the chief crop in this region because of its exacting climatic requirements and because the relatively dense rural population requires a crop which has a relatively high value per acre and requires a relatively large amount of hand work. The northern boundary of the cotton crop and of the Cotton Belt is largely determined by the northern limit of the 200-day growing season, while the western boundary is roughly determined by the line of 20-inch annual rainfall.

In general, cotton accounted for over 50 percent of the harvested crop acreage in the Cotton Belt prior to 1933, and an even larger percentage of the total value of products sold. In addition, most farmers in the South endeavor to grow enough corn to supply corn meal for home use and feed for work stock, so that corn is the second most important crop. Annual legumes such as soybeans, cowpeas, and velvet beans also are grown, and the acreage of these crops has shown a steady increase since about 1933 because of the increased attention given to soil improvement. Peanuts are grown both for feed and for commercial uses and some tobacco also is found along the eastern and southeastern edge of the Cotton Belt.

Erosion is widespread. Much of the land is sloping and lack of snow protection, heavy rainfall, relatively warm winter and spring weather, and the intensive and long continued use of the land for

clean-cultivated crops, all contribute to the erosion problem. As a result, almost the entire Cotton Belt, except the delta areas and the flatwoods border along the Atlantic and Gulf coast, is subject to both sheet erosion and gullying; and except in some of the recently opened western areas, commercial fertilizers are commonly required throughout the Cotton Belt.

ECONOMIC CONDITION COMPLICATES PROBLEM

The conservation problem is further complicated by economic conditions. Because of the relative density of the rural population there is a continuous economic pressure over most of the region to use the land for cotton in an effort to meet taxes and interest and to maintain a minimum standard of living. But in many areas too much cotton acreage has been maintained at the expense of crops for home use and feed, and at the expense of the soil itself.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF COUNTY PLANNING COMMITTEES

A

The major shift recommended by county planning committees in the southern region involved a reduction in cotton acreage to a level 26 percent below the acreage reported in the 1930 census; such recommendation would be 19 percent below what the committees estimated the acreage would be at this time without an agricultural program. In analyzing these recommendations it is felt that some weight was given to the price factor as well as to the need for agricultural conservation. This same observation might be made of the committee recommendation for a reduction of 18 percent in tobacco acreage. slight increase was proposed in corn acreage to permit more adequate food and feed supplies to be grown in the area. Soil-depleting crop acreage should be decreased about 6 percent below the 1930 census figures according to these reports, while soil-conserving acreage should be very materially increased both by single cropping and by interplanting or double cropping of both summer and winter legumes. The recommendations also emphasize such practices as terracing and contour farming on the sloping lands where erosion control is most needed.

These changes are recommended in order to check erosion and maintain or build up soil fertility, to provide for greater farm consumption of vegetable and livestock products, and to help maintain a reasonable balance between supply and demand in the cotton market.

The recommendations of the college specialists were all in the same direction, although the specialists tended to recommend somewhat smaller shifts than those indicated by the county committees, especially for cotton.

COTTON-BELT PROGRAM CARRIES SPECIAL PROVISIONS

Several special provisions were included in the agricultural conservation program for 1936 in order that it might best fit the Cotton Belt. In order to allow the greater portion of the shift from soildepleting to soil-conserving crops to come from cotton rather than from corn and other crops, a special cotton base and diversion payment were established, while every farmer was encouraged to grow an acreage of corn and other food and feed crops sufficient for farmfamily consumption. A special base and rate of payment for peanuts

also were established. Payment for diversion from the general soildepleting base could be earned only by farmers whose acreages in crops included in this base were in excess of the needs for home consumption. Grants were offered for the diversion of up to 35 percent of the cotton base, up to 15 percent of the peanut base, and up to 15 percent of their general base by farmers who could qualify for this type of diversion.

Grants also were offered for the adoption of a wide range of soilbuilding practices, including the seeding of legumes and clovers and the turning under of soybeans, cowpeas, and small-grain mixtures; the establishment of permanent pastures; the application of limestone and superphosphate; and terracing on soils where such work was needed. In addition, interplanted legumes and winter-cover crops, as well as the usual hay and pasture crops, were classed as soilconserving in order to encourage the use of legumes and to help farmers keep their land covered through the fall and winter season.

V. THE GENERAL FARMING REGION

The general farming region is composed of a series of transition areas which lie between the Corn Belt on the north and the tobacco areas and Cotton Belt to the south. In general, farming is diversified rather than specialized in these areas. Corn is the most important crop over much of the region, but small grains and hay crops also fit into the usual rotation. Cattle, poultry, hogs, and sheep are all relatively important. There are apple orchards in both the eastern valleys and the Ozark section.

In some river-bottom areas, as, for example, the Ohic-Wabash area in southern Indiana and Illinois, soils and corn yields are similar to those in the Corn Belt proper; but in the greater portion of the area in southern Indiana, Illinois, and eastern and southwestern Missouri the soil is lighter, the topography is rougher, the percentage of tillable farm land is smaller, and per acre yields are lower than in the Corn Belt. The Shenandoah, Tennessee, and Cumberland Valleys in the eastern part of the region are especially well located with respect to markets and have relatively fertile soils, although the acreage of tillable land is limited.

In general, the agricultural conservation problems in these areas are similar to those of the Corn Belt, and the 1936 program provisions corresponded to those of the Corn Belt program.

County planning committees recommended for this region a decrease in corn acreage approximately the same as that proposed for the Corn Belt, and a decrease of about 15 percent in tobacco acreage. Decreases in soil-depleting crops, it was advised, should be matched by increases in soil-conserving crops in the area as a whole. There were significant differences in the recommendations for various parts. of the region. These differences were due to wide variations in topography, soil type, and other natural factors.

VI. WHEAT AND SMALL-GRAIN REGIONS

The important wheat regions are the hard winter-wheat region centering in Kansas; the hard spring-wheat region in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana; and the soft-wheat region in the Pacific Northwest. In these regions fields are large and level and soils are