SYMPOSIUM OX COX5ERVATIOX 67 



Kpe will greatly reduce the consumption of coal in regions which 

 are favored by plentiful sunshine. 



Conclusions. 



In view of the stupendous waste in mining and utilizing coal, 

 it is evident that our utmost effort is needed to correct the con- 

 ditions. Mining wastes can be checked by the adoption of long- 

 wall system or by panel systems which provide for extraction of 

 the pillars, ^^'aste5 in utilization can be cut down by the more 

 rapid introduction of central plants equipped with the most effi- 

 cient apparatus, and by the use of substitutes for coal. 



It is evident that we need increased research by private con- 

 cerns, and by State and Federal schools and bureaus, in order to 

 display the clear facts in the problem and create closer relations 

 between research and practice. 



Coal operators for some time have advocated a law under 

 which companies can combine and restrict ruinous competition. 

 Some such means for increasing profit is doubtless necessar}", to 

 permit efficient mining and proper safeguards for life. Uniform 

 interstate laws regarding extraction should be strongly urged in 

 all producing States. 



COXSERVATIOX IDEALS IX THE IMPROVEMEXT OF 



PL.\XTS.- 



Dr. H. T. Webber, 

 X'ew York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University. 



The subject which I have chosen for my address may not 

 appeal to you as having ver}" close connection with topics ordi- 

 narily considered as related to the conser%'ation movement, but 

 it appeals to me as important. Whether I prove my case. I shall 

 leave to you to judge. 



The conservation movement had its inception in the wasteful 

 methods practiced in the utilization of our national resources, 

 such as our forests and mineral deposits. Alfred Russel Wallace, 

 the great English evolutionist and contemporan.- of Darwin, has 

 characterized the last centur}- as a centur}- of despoliation of the 

 natural resources of the earth. Our forests have been ruthlessly 



' Pap-er Xo. 30, Department of Plant-Breeding. Cornell University, Ithaca, X. Y. 



