314 A BOOK-LOVER S HOLIDAYS 



permanent crop asset, like corn or wheat, only 

 taking longer to mature an asset which it 

 is equally important not to destroy. In taking 

 care of the mineral resources a stop has been 

 put to waste as foolish as it was criminal; for 

 example, a gas-well which had flowed to waste 

 until six million dollars worth of gas had been 

 lost was stopped and stored at the cost of five 

 thousand one hundred dollars. The oysters are 

 now farmed and husbanded, the beds being 

 leased in such fashion that there is a steady im 

 provement of the product. Louisiana is pecu 

 liarly rich in fish, and a policy has been inau 

 gurated which, if persevered in, w T ill make the 

 paddle-fish industry as important as the stur 

 geon fishery is in Russia. Not only do the 

 waters of Louisiana now belong to the State, 

 but also the land under the water, this last 

 proving in practise an admirable provision. 

 Some three hundred thousand acres of game 

 reserves and wild-life refuges (mostly unin 

 habitable by man) have now been established. 

 These have largely been gifts to the State by 

 wise and generous private individuals and cor 

 porations, the chief donors being Messrs. Ed 

 ward A. Mcllhenny and Charles Willis Ward, 

 Mrs. Russell Sage, and the Rockefeller Founda 

 tion. The Conservation Commission has ac- 



