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county was cvor plowed. Reclassifica- tion of land to be revegetated had hy 1940 reduced the percentage classed as dry-farming land to about 48,.5 Percent. A sound system of assessment of lands must he hased on the land cap- ability and productivity. Such a sys- tem could be an effective tool in en- couraging desirable shifts iu land liSp. Herc, as in many ather counties, there is a tendency to overassess poor land and underassess good land. ' Land that is chronically tax delin- quent is probably either not taxed in aceordanee with its productivity or is unsuitable to remain in private .owner- ship under present methods of use and management, or hoth. If the secoud eondition is true, then the public inter- pst is not being sorved by encouraging its return to private ownership to be exploited for another period of years. Tax-reverted land ,can bc made perma- nently productive if it is placed in public ownership and managcd as graz- ing land or if it is acquired by persons willing to round out existing units for grazing managcment. As yet, county officials have been rather reluctant to do this, chiefly bccause of the eosts involved in restoring it to native -grass. Some reorgauization of local govcrn- Inont may be necessary, Bnca County in -1940 1md 56 school districts. As- sessed valuations per district varied. from about a million and a half to less than 12,000 dollars. Many distriets have areas of less than 10,000 aeres. In 1935, 67 of the 73 schools in the county were oue-teacher sehools. Such small units of government lead only to inefficiency, inadequate facilities', and continued suhsidy from higher levels of government. Some reorganization has been taking place, but it has come about only because no other method of flnancing schools could he found. Even with high assessed valuations, some districts are now making the maximum mill-levy allowed by law. Far-reaching changes in land use must not only be .accompanied hy: more extensive types of farming but also by more extensive distribution of public faeilities. The land will not support a road an every section line, and a 30 , '. schoolhouse wi thin a mile or two of every farmhouse. How the Soil Conservation Districts Work Immediately after the organir.ation of the Western and Southeastern Baca County Soil Conservation Districts, it WIl8 found that a total of 83,900 acres of land in the western district and 90,000 acres in the so'utheastern dis- triet were in an active blowing condi- tion. In addition, about 40,000 acres were actively eroding in the north- eastern part of the county outside the districts. Meetings called by the dist,.;ets' boards .of supervisors were nttended by farmers and other interestcd parties, including representatives of the Soil Conservation Serviee, Extension Se-rv- ice, Farm Security Administration, and Blll'eall of Agricultural Economics, to discuss the problem and to prepare a work program. Plans were written for carrying out the work. A memo- randum of understa,J;lding between the Department of Agriculture and ,the districts was signed providing for tech- nieal personnel to assist in the distriet program and for loan of equipment of , various kinds to facilitate the work. Efforts to se(\urc a ferle1'al bl"J'ant WCJ'(\ te no avail, a,nd at that time districts werc not eligiblc for loans from thc Farm Seclll'itv Administration. The dist!';ets' hom:ds obtained loans from loeal banks, secured hy estimates of the earning eapacity of individual tracts of land under the AgricuHural Conservation Program. These tracts had previously been leased by the district. By using these funds for operating the borrowed equipment, emergency listing was started on vast acreages to minimize the erosion, M eanwhilc, a local association within the districts known as the Sandy Soil Cooperative Erosion Control Associa- tion was organized. This local assoeia- tion was eligible for loans from the Farm Sccuri ty Administration, and by the time district fnnds previously borrowed were exhausted a sizable 'loan from the Farm Seenrity Administ'ration was Physical Land Conditions in the