314 A BOOK-LOVER'S HOLIDAYS 



permanent crop asset, like corn or wheat, only 

 taking longer to mature — an asset which it 

 is equally important not to destroy. In taking 

 care of the mineral resources a stop has been 

 put to waste as foolish as it was criminal; for 

 example, a gas-well which had flowed to waste 

 until six million dollars' worth of gas had been 

 lost was stopped and stored at the cost of five 

 thousand one hundred dollars. The oysters are 

 now farmed and husbanded, the beds being 

 leased in such fashion that there is a steady im- 

 provement of the product. Louisiana is pecu- 

 liarly rich in fish, and a policy has been inau- 

 gurated which, if persevered in, will make the 

 paddle-fish industry as important as the stur- 

 geon fishery is in Russia. Not only do the 

 waters of Louisiana now belong to the State, 

 but also the land under the water, this last 

 proving in practise an admirable provision. 

 Some three hundred thousand acres of game 

 reserves and wild-life refuges (mostly unin- 

 habitable by man) have now been established. 

 These have largely been gifts to the State by 

 wise and generous private individuals and cor- 

 porations, the chief donors being Messrs. Ed- 

 ward A. Mcllhenny and Charles Willis Ward, 

 Mrs. Russell Sage, and the Rockefeller Founda- 

 tion. The Conservation Commission has ac- 



