on that has passed away. They have almost ceased to support
life.

In the days of Rome's greatness, Sicily was known as "the granary of
Rome" because from this little island came the grains to supply her vast
armies. 12,000,000 bushels of grain was the tribute that Rome claimed of
Sicily each year, and yet Sicily had enough left to make her rich. She
built splendid cities and became great. But the same story of
destruction is to be read in the history of Sicily. Now the entire
island does not raise a million and a half bushels of wheat altogether.
The soil is barren. The cities have nearly all fallen into ruin. The
people are scattered. Thousands have come to America, seeking a poor
living at the lowest wages because at home there was no chance to earn
even the little they require. They allowed the soil to become exhausted
by lack of fertilization and by erosion and it long ago ceased to
support the people. All the rest followed naturally.

In many parts of our own country this same danger is coming on us. It is
only the beginning, but the end is as sure for us as for those far-off
Eastern countries.

Millions of acres have already been destroyed in the East and South. The
Appalachian mountain system lies not far from the coast, and the rivers
on the eastern slopes are short and swift. It is necessary, then, to
exercise the greatest care of the forests in order to prevent the floods
in this region from carrying away the lands in their swift rush to the
sea. North Carolina was one of the richest states in the Union in
natural resources a hundred years ago. Now it is low on the list in
agricultural products. The forests on its mountain tops were valuable
for their lumber, their turpentine, pitch, and other products, and great
lumber companies have almost denuded the hillsides, regardless of the
fate of the lands they cut over. The people of the state are powerless
to prevent this except by buying all of these lands and replanting the
forests. They have been pleading with Congress for power to stop the
destruction of their forests and the wasting of their lands, but so far
have received no assistance and meanwhile the land grows poorer each
year. The same conditions are to be found in many other states that now
rank high agriculturally, but in North Carolina we are beginning to see
results.

In order to understand exactly how the damage is done to the land, let
us suppose a case which has actually occurred in hundreds