SAY 39
7. HOW FAR WILL NATURE RESTORE HER WASTED GIFTS? 44
8. THE SOIL--THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT OF NATURE 51
9. THINGS OF WHICH SOIL IS MADE 57
10. HOW THE SOIL IS MADE 61
11. HOW VEGETATION HOLDS THE SOIL 67
12. WHAT HAPPENS WHERE THERE IS NO PROTECTING CARPET OF VEGETATION 73
13. THE USE AND CARE OF WATER 81
14. COULD WE GET ALONG WITHOUT THE TREES? 89
15. WHERE HAS NATURE SPREAD THE FOREST? 96
16. WHAT ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE TREES? 104
17. HOW THE FORESTS ARE WASTED 112
18. HOW THE FORESTS SUFFER FROM FIRES 119
19. EVILS THAT FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FORESTS 125
20. HOW OUR GOVERNMENT IS HELPING TO SAVE THE FORESTS 130
21. OUR FOREST PLAYGROUNDS 139
22. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE WILD FLOWERS 144
23. NATURE'S PENALTY FOR INTERFERING WITH HER ARRANGEMENTS 150
24. WHAT SHALL WE DO WHEN THE COAL, OIL, AND GAS ARE GONE? 155
25. NEED FOR PROTECTION OF CREATURES THAT LIVE IN THE WATER 162
26. MAN MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN THE OTHER ANIMALS 171
27. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE ANIMALS AND BIRDS 176
28. THE TRAGEDIES OF MILADY'S HAT AND CAPE 183
29. THE COURT OF THE ANIMALS AND BIRDS 188
30. THE BIRDS OUR GOOD FRIENDS AND PLEASANT COMPANIONS 195
31. HOW TO BRING THE WILD CREATURES BACK AGAIN 203
INDEX 213

CONSERVATION READER

CHAPTER ONE

HOW OUR FIRST ANCESTORS LIVED

Before these fields were shorn and tilled
Full to the brim our rivers flowed;
The melody of waters filled
The fresh and boundless woods;
And torrents dashed, and rivulets play'd,
The fountains spouted in the shade.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, quoted in _American Forestry_, XIV. 520

The earth is our home. It is a great treasure house filled with the most
wonderful things. Although people have lived on t