250 NEBEASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



leaves Nature still the rich storehouse in which others after him may 

 find these unimpaired, and in abundance. 



How shall such a high sense of responsibility be developed in the com- 

 munity? How riiay we awaken this larger and deeper altruism? How 

 can we bring the men and women of this generation to see that they are 

 stewards of their Master's estate? 



Your committee commends three agencies as rendering effective 

 service: 



(a) Public Lectures. For these we may rely upon public-spirited 

 men who are primarily interested in conservation, as well as many whose 

 affiliations to different branches of natural science have prepared them 

 to appreciate the purposes of this propaganda. To these we may add 

 the great number of ministers of the Gospel who, nearly to a man, may 

 be depended upon to favor the movement and to speak for it as occasion 

 offers. Last of all, we may confidently enumerate the teachers in the 

 public schools and the higher educational institutions, and from them 

 we may certainly secure many regularly prepared addresses and many 

 less formal, short, helpful talks. The influence of all of these presenta- 

 tions can scarcely be measured beforehand, but we confidently predict 

 that in a few years we shall find that there has been a decided change in 

 the general attitude of the community from one of ignorant indifference 

 to a more or less intelligent interest. 



(b) Articles in the Public Press. We believe in the power of the 

 public press as a molder of the opinions of the community, and feel 

 that we must enlist the interest and co-operation of the newspapers 

 throughout the country. To do this generally will require carefully con- 

 sidered, nation-wide plans; but a great deal may be done in every locality 

 by the printing of the addresses referred to above. When this is not 

 possible abstracts may always be published, as well as summaries of 

 shorter talks and discussions. Now and then a short, pointed article 

 should be prepared and printed in the local paper. Here we feel the 

 need of admonishing writers to be brief. No communication should at- 

 tempt to be exhaustive. Better far to say a little at a time, and to come 

 back to the subject again and again, than to say it all at once. Short, 

 suggestive articles are generally read, while long ones usually become 

 so dry that few read them. 



(c) Books and Pamphlets. For certain classes of people the appeal 

 through the more permanent form of publication is far more effective, 

 and therefore there is in our work a need of the book writer, and the 

 writer of pamphlets. Here, quite naturally, the writer must possess to 

 a marked degree the ability to present the matter in such a sustained way 

 that his book or pamphlet will be read throughout. Probably the most 

 effective writing of this class is that which appears in our illustrated 

 magazines, where, by the aid of half-tone reproductions of striking photo- 

 graphs, the interest of the reader is hold much more certainly. Such 

 articles collected into small books or pamphlets would go far towards 

 stimulating a proper state of mind in regard to the conservation of our 

 natural resources. 



