284 
national resources, we can attribute a 
continuation of many of these prac- 
tices only to stupidity or greed; it is 
hard to say which is dominant. In 
spite of the knowledge that is available 
for the asking, it is still possible for an 
unscrupulous promoter to enlist busi- 
nessmen, the chamber of commerce, 
or other local groups in a dubious 
drainage or development scheme which 
lacks many or all of the elements that 
might make it successful. Despite the 
record of past mistakes, this Nation is 
still dissipating and unnecessarily de- 
stroying the basic resources on which 
its future depends. 
Land 
Someone once said that the future 
of the human race was entirely de- 
pendent on the top 14 inches of soil. 
Like many epigrams this one contains 
much truth. All food, most of the 
clothing, and many other products 
that fill everyday human needs are 
products of the soil and water. So 
far as the future can be discerned, they 
will always be so produced. The 
development of the great plastics in- 
dustry has not changed this picture. 
While plastics can be substituted for 
many uses to which metals are now 
devoted, they cannot replace food and 
other essentials. In fact, plastics are 
made largely from products of the 
soil. ‘Those that have been developed 
from petroleum products or byproducts 
were living plants and animals at one 
time, and those that are produced 
from cellulose are direct products of 
the soil. 
The fall of many nations has been 
linked directly to abuse and destruc- 
tion of that nation’s soil. Many rose 
to greatness on virgin agricultural 
areas and declined with the destruc- 
tion of the soil. The same historical 
sequence is inevitable in this country 
unless we learn to use more wisely the 
soils and waters of the United States. 
Scientists realize this keenly and have 
been trying for years to impress upon 
the general public the need for con- 
servation. However, it took the spec- 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
tacular dust storms of the 1930's, 
resulting from wind erosion of the arid, 
drought-stricken plains country, to 
focus attention, even momentarily, 
upon some of the basic problems of 
maintaining our natural resources. 
Like all farm crops and animals, 
wildlife, too, is directly dependent 
upon the soil. In fact, all animal life, 
including man, is dependent upon 
plants which are the only living things 
capable of taking minerals, air, and 
water, and combining them into the 
complex substances that are required 
for human and animal nutrition. 
When man eats meat, he feeds upon 
the products of plant development and 
growth for, as a food, meat is only 
once removed from plants. Whether 
fish, fowl, or beast is eaten, man de- 
pends ultimately upon vegetation and 
this fact is one of the primary bases of 
the conservation concept. 
The productive soils with which this 
country was originally endowed were 
built by a very complex process that 
required vast stretches of geologic time. 
Only by going through an exceedingly 
time-consuming evolution did _ soils 
become fertile and productive. Usu- 
ally, the first step in the formation of 
soils is the breaking down and weather- 
ing of rock, as the result of wind, water, 
and temperature acting upon the 
rocks. Without forming immediately 
productive soils these rock particles 
contain mineral elements that provide 
basic fertility. These broken-down 
particles of rock may be moved, mixed, 
shuffled, deposited in layers, torn up 
and resorted by the action of erosive 
agents until they become capable of 
sustaining some type of plant life. A 
few plants are even capable of growing 
on the faces of solid rocks and the 
growth of their roots contributes to the 
actual breaking down of the rock. 
More kinds of plants can grow on 
newly broken-down rocks. As these 
plants grow and decay, the humus, 
which they create and return to the 
soil, enables other and higher types of 
plants to develop on the same area. 
Eventually a fertile topsoil is formed 
