Streams depending upon deforested areas for their water are too full in 

 the spring and run too low in the summer; the destruction of forests in one 

 region has often resulted in the ruin of agriculture and the displacement of 

 peoples in a distant valley. 



Soil washed away by water is not only a direct loss of agricultural resources; 

 it also interferes with the navigation of streams and with conditions of harbors. 



With the abundance made possible by science, further growth and enrich- 

 ment of populations seem to be limited by our clinging to attitudes which 

 belong to simpler modes of Uving — attitudes of mutual suspicion and conflict 

 among men and among tribes. 



EXPLORATIONS AND PROJECTS 



1 To learn of the extent to which erosion is being and can be controlled, read 

 and report findings obtained from various government publications. ^ 



2 To find the extent to which our forest resources have been and are being ex- 

 ploited, investigate the changing forest areas within the United States. Find out 

 what proportion of our original forests still remains; whether forest areas are being 

 depleted at the present time; and what is being done to conserve and to replace 

 forests. 



3 To find out how staple crops are produced, investigate the growing, storage 

 and marketing of such crops as corn, wheat, oats, cotton, tobacco, clover, alfalfa, 

 potatoes, apples, oranges, grapefruit, and the various vegetable crops. Prepare a 

 written report on your findings. 



4 To find out how various meat, dairy and poultry products are produced, in- 

 vestigate the feeding, breeding, care and marketing of beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs, 

 sheep, chickens, and the like. Prepare a written report of your findings. • 



5 To learn how to can fruits, vegetables and meats, try packing some as de- 

 scribed in Farmers' Bulletin No. 1762, entitled Home Canning of Fruits, Vegetables, 

 and Meats, or in other available descriptions of the process. Describe the essential 

 steps in the canning of foods. 



6 To learn about the new uses of agricultural products in industry, investigate 

 the many commercial uses of various products manufactured from soybeans, from 

 cotton seeds, from corn, from peanuts, from milk, and from other agricultural 

 products. 



QUESTIONS 



1 What are the outstanding needs for which man uses other living things and 

 their products? 



2 What kinds of plant or animal products are most useful in meeting the 

 primary needs of man ? 



iReport of the Mississippi Valley Committee of the Public Works Administration, pp. 61-68, 

 119-126. United States Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication No. 321, entitled 

 To Hold This Soil. United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook, 1937, entitled Soils and 

 Men, 



656 



