﻿LESSONS 
  FROM 
  THE 
  OLD 
  WORLD 
  TO 
  THE 
  

   AMERICAS 
  IN 
  LAND 
  USE 
  * 
  

  

  By 
  Walter 
  Clay 
  Lowdermilk 
  

   Assistant 
  Chief, 
  Soil 
  Conservation 
  Service, 
  U. 
  8. 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  

  

  [With 
  4 
  plates] 
  

  

  Lands 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  World 
  bear 
  an 
  indelible 
  record 
  written 
  across 
  land- 
  

   scape 
  after 
  landscape 
  by 
  resident 
  populations. 
  The 
  longer 
  the 
  occu- 
  

   pation, 
  the 
  deeper 
  is 
  the 
  record 
  written 
  and 
  the 
  easier 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  read 
  the 
  

   story 
  of 
  man's 
  stewardship 
  of 
  the 
  earth, 
  whether 
  it 
  be 
  wasteful 
  ex- 
  

   ploitation 
  or 
  use 
  with 
  conservation 
  of 
  the 
  resource. 
  One 
  finds 
  suc- 
  

   cessful 
  adjustments 
  of 
  populations 
  to 
  the 
  land 
  in 
  remarkable 
  terrac- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  reclamation 
  works, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  tragedies 
  of 
  land 
  misuse, 
  in 
  gul- 
  

   lied 
  fields 
  and 
  alluvial 
  plains, 
  in 
  rocky 
  hills 
  and 
  mountain 
  slopes 
  

   washed 
  bare 
  of 
  soils, 
  in 
  shifting 
  soils 
  and 
  sands, 
  in 
  silted-up 
  and 
  aban- 
  

   doned 
  irrigation 
  reservoirs 
  and 
  canals, 
  in 
  ruins 
  of 
  great 
  and 
  prosper- 
  

   ous 
  cities 
  and 
  in 
  ruins 
  of 
  olive 
  presses 
  and 
  cisterns 
  in 
  desertlike 
  land- 
  

   scapes. 
  The 
  effects 
  of 
  land 
  use 
  through 
  the 
  centuries 
  are 
  cumulative. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  of 
  America, 
  we 
  have 
  in 
  a 
  comparatively 
  short 
  

   period 
  written 
  far 
  and 
  wide 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  our 
  country 
  a 
  story 
  of 
  

   wasteful 
  exploitation 
  and 
  reckless 
  use 
  of 
  abundant 
  natural 
  resources. 
  

   We 
  have 
  grown 
  wealthy 
  by 
  an 
  economy 
  of 
  exploitation. 
  The 
  time 
  

   has 
  come 
  with 
  the 
  occupation 
  of 
  all 
  lands 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  to 
  change 
  to 
  

   an 
  economy 
  of 
  conservation. 
  It 
  is 
  of 
  timely 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  New 
  

   World 
  to 
  read 
  the 
  story 
  of 
  land 
  use 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  in 
  the 
  lands 
  

   of 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  that 
  we 
  may 
  profit 
  by 
  the 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  

   in 
  its 
  failures 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  its 
  successes. 
  

  

  Western 
  civilization 
  had 
  its 
  beginnings 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  in 
  the 
  

   alluvial 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Nile 
  Valley 
  and 
  of 
  Mesopotamia. 
  Early 
  tillers 
  

   of 
  soil 
  by 
  irrigation 
  and 
  by 
  selection 
  of 
  food 
  plants 
  produced 
  more 
  

   food 
  than 
  they 
  themselves 
  required. 
  Surplus 
  food 
  supplies 
  released 
  

   other 
  members 
  of 
  early 
  societies 
  to 
  engage 
  in 
  useful 
  activities 
  other 
  

   than 
  food 
  production. 
  Division 
  of 
  labor 
  thus 
  began 
  and 
  increased 
  

   the 
  command 
  over 
  nature 
  and 
  progress 
  in 
  civilization. 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Eighth 
  American 
  Scientific 
  Congress, 
  

   vol. 
  5, 
  1942. 
  

  

  413 
  

  

  