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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  From 
  these 
  far-away 
  lands 
  of 
  the 
  Near 
  East, 
  western 
  civilization 
  

   has 
  moved 
  westward, 
  until 
  now 
  its 
  vanguard 
  has 
  reached 
  the 
  gleaming 
  

   billows 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Ocean 
  that 
  wash 
  the 
  western 
  sands 
  of 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   cas. 
  For 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  race 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  

   more 
  continents 
  to 
  discover, 
  to 
  colonize, 
  and 
  to 
  exploit. 
  The 
  fron- 
  

   tiers 
  of 
  new 
  lands 
  are 
  gone 
  forever. 
  The 
  nations 
  of 
  the 
  Americas 
  

   occupy 
  the 
  last 
  frontier 
  of 
  western 
  civilization. 
  

  

  A 
  survey 
  of 
  land 
  use 
  throughout 
  this 
  westward 
  march 
  of 
  civilization 
  

   discloses 
  successes 
  and 
  failures 
  in 
  the 
  long 
  use 
  of 
  land. 
  The 
  object 
  of 
  

   this 
  survey 
  was 
  to 
  profit 
  by 
  failures 
  and 
  achievements 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  

   World 
  in 
  our 
  national 
  movement 
  for 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  land. 
  This 
  

   survey 
  covered 
  28,000 
  miles 
  of 
  overland 
  travel 
  by 
  automobile 
  from 
  

   humid 
  England 
  to 
  the 
  margins 
  of 
  the 
  deserts 
  of 
  Sahara 
  and 
  Arabia. 
  

   Studies 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  consultation 
  with 
  fully 
  a 
  hundred 
  specialists 
  in 
  

   124 
  areas 
  of 
  special 
  interest 
  within 
  14 
  countries 
  and 
  dependencies 
  in 
  

   a 
  period 
  of 
  15 
  months 
  of 
  field 
  work. 
  

  

  No 
  attempt 
  is 
  made 
  in 
  this 
  brief 
  paper 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  destruction 
  

   or 
  conservation 
  of 
  lands 
  on 
  economic 
  grounds. 
  To 
  profit 
  by 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   perience 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  it 
  is 
  important 
  to 
  know 
  what 
  has 
  happened 
  to 
  the 
  

   land 
  after 
  centuries 
  and 
  thousands 
  of 
  years 
  of 
  use. 
  Complexity 
  of 
  

   causes 
  cannot 
  hide 
  the 
  menace 
  to 
  national 
  welfare 
  in 
  soil 
  erosion 
  and 
  

   the 
  necessity 
  for 
  setting 
  up 
  national 
  objectives 
  to 
  conserve 
  basic 
  re- 
  

   sources 
  of 
  soils 
  and 
  waters 
  in 
  the 
  land. 
  Means 
  of 
  achieving 
  the 
  ob- 
  

   jectives 
  of 
  conservation 
  will 
  vary 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  the 
  genius 
  of 
  

   peoples 
  and 
  their 
  institutions. 
  Soil 
  erosion, 
  if 
  not 
  controlled, 
  has 
  

   demonstrated 
  its 
  ability 
  to 
  undermine 
  nations 
  and 
  civilizations 
  re- 
  

   gardless 
  of 
  what 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  social 
  or 
  economic 
  conditions 
  that 
  

   set 
  it 
  going 
  or 
  stimulated 
  its 
  destructiveness. 
  

  

  The 
  land 
  of 
  special 
  areas 
  was 
  examined 
  for 
  evidences 
  — 
  in 
  changes 
  

   of 
  the 
  original 
  soil 
  profiles 
  insofar 
  as 
  they 
  could 
  be 
  reconstructed; 
  

   in 
  the 
  shifting 
  of 
  soils 
  from 
  slopes 
  by 
  erosion 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  accumulation 
  

   of 
  sediments 
  on 
  valley 
  floors 
  and 
  plains 
  ; 
  in 
  the 
  shifting 
  of 
  sand 
  dunes 
  ; 
  

   in 
  the 
  cutting 
  out 
  of 
  alluvial 
  plains 
  with 
  deep 
  gullies; 
  in 
  the 
  filling 
  

   cf 
  stream 
  channels 
  with 
  erosional 
  debris 
  producing 
  marshy 
  condi- 
  

   tions 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  ruins 
  of 
  agricultural 
  works 
  for 
  the 
  control 
  and 
  conserva- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  waters 
  for 
  domestic 
  and 
  irrigation 
  use 
  ; 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  evidences 
  of 
  

   changes 
  or 
  stability 
  of 
  climate. 
  Furthermore, 
  the 
  fate 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  

   body 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  resource 
  was 
  given 
  more 
  attention 
  in 
  the 
  survey 
  than 
  

   problems 
  of 
  fertility 
  maintenance. 
  For 
  if 
  the 
  soil 
  is 
  maintained 
  in 
  

   place, 
  liberty 
  of 
  action 
  in 
  use 
  is 
  assured 
  to 
  succeeding 
  tillers 
  of 
  the 
  

   soil, 
  in 
  applying 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  fertilizer, 
  in 
  growing 
  this 
  or 
  that 
  crop 
  ; 
  

   but 
  if 
  the 
  soil 
  itself 
  is 
  destroyed, 
  the 
  present 
  and 
  succeeding 
  genera- 
  

   tions 
  are 
  deprived 
  of 
  their 
  basic 
  heritage. 
  

  

  Throughout 
  this 
  broad 
  expanse 
  of 
  land 
  it 
  became 
  plain 
  that 
  the 
  fate 
  

   of 
  land 
  under 
  use 
  has 
  been 
  most 
  influenced 
  by 
  slope. 
  The 
  hazard 
  of 
  

  

  