ove in the heart of the woods!
For the Maker of all things keeps the feast,
And over the tiny flowers broods
With care that for ages has never ceased.
If he cares for this, will he not for thee--
Thee, wherever thou art today?
Child of an infinite Father, see;
And safe in such gentlest keeping stay.

MARGARET E. SANGSTER, in _American Forestry_, XIV

CHAPTER FOUR

NATURE'S UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF HER GIFTS

Pure, fresh air is free to all of us, for, like an ocean, it surrounds
the whole earth. We need pure water just as much as we do pure air, but
it is not always easy to get. A large part of the earth is buried
beneath water so salt that we cannot use it. Other parts of the earth
are so dry that if we venture into them we may die of thirst. The solid
land on which we make our homes is not all of the same value. Thousands
of square miles are so rocky or so cold or so dry that they support no
living thing. Other thousands of miles of the earth have been so favored
by Nature that they are fairly alive with every sort of creature.

We say that a country is rich in natural resources when it has an
abundance of those things that men need or can make use of for their
pleasure and comfort. A country is poor when it has few of these things.

The first men were poor, although they lived in a rich part of the
earth. They did not know how to make use of what lay around them. If
civilized men are poor now, it is because they have wasted Nature's
gifts or because they live in a country upon which she has bestowed
little.

When we say that the far North where the Eskimos live is a dreary,
desolate region, we mean that it lacks most of those things necessary to
make men comfortable and happy. When we read of the life of the
wandering Arabs in the desert of Arabia, we think of a country to which
Nature has not given its share.

When we speak of Spain as poor, we have in mind a country once favored
by Nature, but no longer prosperous because its resources have been
wasted. Our own land is now rich and prosperous because of the abundance
of its natural resources. We should guard these well lest we meet a fate
similar to that of the people of Spain.

[Illustration: _H. W. Fairbanks_
Where Nature has supplied little rain; desert sand dunes.]

If we journey over our own land, we shall discover that Nature has been
very partial to certain parts, giving them more than they need. Other
parts hav