NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 27 



other natural products. Even coal and oil are not 

 conserved as they should be. 



One feature of this country, however, which is 

 being destroyed and which is seldom mentioned, 

 is its beauty. This loss is intimately connected 

 with the other losses named. A needless destruc- 

 tion of a forest often leaves a barren waste. Com- 

 pare the primeval forest with the "pine barrens" 

 that have taken its place. Compare a newly dis- 

 cdVered creek or river with banks well covered 

 by native growth with the same river a genera- 

 tion later when its banks are denuded of growth 

 and the river as if angry spends its energy in goug- 

 ing out the land on either side. Compare the shores 

 of a lake as first seen by white people with the 

 same shores after the trees have been cut away 

 and their places taken by ice-houses and other pro- 

 truding or obtrusive buildings. Compare the tree- 

 covered hills of some of the southern states with 

 neighboring hills that have been denuded of for- 

 est and have been eroded by storms until the vir- 

 gin soil has disappeared and the ground is worth- 

 less. 



The history of what is taking place in this coun- 

 try is but a repetition of that in other lands. In 



