796 General and Applied Biology 



maximum of moisture^ (5) the building of dams and dikes to conserve the 

 supply until needed, (6) employment of the correct types of plowing and 

 cultivating to retain a maximum of water in the soil, (7) reduction of 

 evaporation by a covering of vegetation, and (8) institution of a system of 

 flood preventions, thus alleviating the damages due to floods and also 

 conserving water for future uses. 



Loss and Conservation of Animal and Plant Wild Life. — Many wild 

 animals and plants have been lost because of factors previously men- 

 tioned. Many species of wild flowers no longer exist because their nat- 

 ural habitats are no longer present. The removal of a forest results in a 

 destruction of wild plant and animal life which normally lives there. 

 Fishes, seals, deer, buffalo, birds, beavers, wild flowers will gradually 

 diminish, and probably disappear eventually, unless conservation meas- 

 ures are promptly instituted. It must be remembered that all living 

 things require more or less specific environments for their optimum 

 growth and development. When these are interfered with or destroyed, 

 the living organisms must perish if they are unable to adjust themselves 

 to another type of environment. The loss of each type of wild life con- 

 stitutes a unique problem in conservation, but the following general meas- 

 ures will illustrate: (1) regulation and control of fishing, hunting, collec- 

 tion of wild flowers, etc., (2) restoration of streams and other bodies of 

 water to their natural conditions as far as possible, (3) restoration of 

 forests, fields, and swamps so as to invite the growth of inhabitants 

 normally found there, (4) prevention of pollution of bodies of water by 

 industrial wastes, (5) prevention of destruction of plant and animal life 

 by the fumes from certain industries, (6) the building of bird sanctuaries, 

 providing nesting sites, proper foods, and protection, (7) protection of 

 such animals as fishes, seals, deer, pheasants, buffaloes, etc., by proper 

 hunting and fishing regulations, (8) the increase of state and national 

 parks and preserves in which the animals and plants have a natural 

 environment protected by laws, (9) prevention of the unnecessary de- 

 struction of wild life by the education of man as to the causes, results, 

 and remedial measures, (10) education of the public that picking wild 

 flowers, especially varieties which are scarce, will soon lead to their 

 extinction because each flower picked is the prospective parent for fu- 

 ture flowers, (11) increased support for the state and federal agencies for 

 the conservation of natural resources, (12) prevention of devastating 

 forest fires, and (13) the placing of big game in large forests where they 

 are protected by law. 



