THE LAND 19 



the coming of federal agencies like the Soil Conservation Serv 

 ice and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, that a 

 vast nationwide program of teaching landowners the elements 

 of good, stable, diversified, profitable land use, and of helping 

 them financially and technically was begun. And even this is 

 only a beginning in what is likely to be one of our chief national 

 activities for generations to come. 



THE LAND AS IT IS 



The frontiersman's axe cleared the fertile farmlands. His 

 gun shot the game and defeated the Indian. His plow broke 

 the plains and his barbed wire fence reclaimed it from the roving 

 herds of cattle. The lumberman's saw cut down the forests. The 

 miner's pick dug out the gold and copper and iron and coal. 

 The fisherman's nets caught the fish. The oil prospector's drill 

 found the pockets of petroleum. And money from England, 

 Holland, Germany, Scotland, and the industrial East was 

 poured into America to make it grow faster. 



Perhaps the country grew too fast. Perhaps it expanded 

 more than was necessary. In any case, practically all the land 

 of the United States is now old. The period of youthful richness 

 and fertility has at last come to an end. America still has vast 

 wealth in natural resources, but now these resources must be 

 handled wisely and carefully if they are to be preserved at all. 

 We can no longer afford to waste them. 



America is like a man who suddenly realises that he has 

 reached middle age. He can no longer play six sets of tennis, 

 race for a quarter of a mile, and then dance until two in the 

 morning. If he uses his energy wisely, he will be stronger and 

 accomplish more than any young man. But he must concentrate 

 his efforts on really important jobs if he is to survive. So must 

 the United States use her energy, which is her natural re 

 sources, wisely. If Americans who work with the land learn 

 to understand and abide by the laws of nature, the products of 



