UNCLE SAM'S BIGGEST BANK ACCOUNT 33 



cherished possessions. Fortunately a start has been 

 made toward the protection of the natural resources and 

 future generations should receive a fair share of their 

 inheritance if the plans now being laid by the far- 

 sighted leaders of the conservation movement do not 

 sadly miscarry. A brief review of these plans will be 

 highly interesting. 



Concerning the method of handling the land now 

 owned by the Government, while the period of free land 

 has passed and there are but few homes to give away, 

 land is still extremely cheap in comparison with that in 

 the Old World. The Federal Department of Agricul- 

 ture is co-operating with the States and the various 

 experiment stations give advice freely regarding the 

 raising of crops, the proper fertilization and rotation 

 to practice. With the spread of the co-operative system 

 of marketing farm products, agriculture in the United 

 States will be upon a sound basis, as the farmers will 

 receive a larger portion of the market price of his 

 crops and will be correspondingly prosperous. Upon 

 economical agriculture largely rests the future of the 

 United States. 



The waters of the country are being more freely 

 used and better controlled each year. The Reclamation 

 Service is making the desert bloom like the rose in 

 bringing water to lands already possessing plenty of 

 salts and sunshine and new homes are being supplied 

 to the small farmer upon easy terms, which will permit 

 him to pay for his ten to forty acre tract in from ten 

 to twenty years. The inland waterways are receiving 

 the attention of Congress and the various States, so 

 that rivers capable of navigation will be used to trans- 

 port bulky freights at a fraction of railroad rates. The 

 development of water power is proceeding apace. 



