een college text-books and scientific treatises on
various branches of the subject, such as Forestry, there has been no
book treating of the entire problem of our natural resources, their
extent, the amount and nature of their use, their waste, and what may be
done to conserve them, prepared in a way that can be readily understood
by the ordinary reader, and dealing with the practical, rather than the
technical, side.

It is to supply the need for such general knowledge, and to show how
such saving may be accomplished, that this book has been written. It is
designed as a short but complete statement of the entire conservation
question, and should be of service for study in teachers' reading
circles, farmers' institutes, women's clubs, the advanced grades in
schools, and for general library purposes.

Every statement of fact bears the weight of authority, for no facts or
figures are given that have not been verified by government reports,
reports of scientific societies, etc.

Information has been gathered from many sources, chief among them being
the Report of the Conference of Governors at the White House, in May,
1908; the Report of the National Conservation Commission, the Report on
National Vitality, the Report of the Inland Waterways Commission, of the
Geological Survey, the Census Reports, and many government departmental
pamphlets.

M. H. G.

Indianapolis, November 24, 1910.

* * *

CHECKING THE WASTE

CHAPTER I

WHAT IS CONSERVATION?

A Nation's Riches lie both in its people and in its natural resources.
Neither can exist in its highest estate without the other. Goldsmith
predicted the certain downfall of lands "where wealth accumulates and
men decay," but, in the truest, broadest definition, there can be no
national wealth unless the men and women of the nation are healthy,
intelligent, educated and right-minded. On the other hand it is equally
true that if the people of a country are to make the most of themselves
in mind and body; if they are to get the most comfort and happiness out
of life and to become in the highest degree useful, they must develop
its natural resources to the greatest possible degree.

The United States is particularly fortunate in its abundant riches of
soil, forest and mine, and in the fact that from the beginning of the
nation these have been the inheritance not of a people slowly learning
the use of tools and materials, and emerging from ignorance and
sa