74 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



much in ameliorating climatic conditions, but great 

 masses of forest, where considerable regions are shaded 

 and protected, are essential to the preservation of the 

 climatic conditions that have brought so much prosperity 

 to this country in the past. 



In the Northwest the last few years of drought have 

 prepared the people as a whole for the study of this ques- 

 tion. The shrinking of the Great Lakes is already plain- 

 ly noticeable, and active efforts for their preservation 

 and restoration should be made without delay. 



In Iowa some of the most beautiful of the little lakes 

 have been drained and turned into fertile fields, whilst 

 others have dwindled so as to be only a mere reminder 

 of their former beauty. If the destruction of these 

 bodies of water only entailed the loss of their beauty, a 

 practical people might accept the change without any 

 very great regret; but when the reclamation of a com- 

 paratively small area of land to cultivation imperils the 

 water supply of thousands of surrounding farms, it is 

 high time to call a halt and demand a restoration of these 

 sources of water supply. All land must at times lie fal- 

 low. The best rest that it can enjoy is when, covered 

 with timber, it returns for a time to its natural condition, 

 sheltered and fertilized by the woods once more. A rea- 

 sonable portion of the country should at all times be thus 

 given up to its native woods if we would preserve the 

 fertility of the whole. 



The practical question of today is how, as far as pos- 

 sible, to undo the mistakes of the past; how to prevent 

 them in the future. Agitation and discussion are neces- 

 sary to call the attention of the people to the importance 

 of maintaining, and to at least partially restoring, the 

 primitive forests of this country. The recent policy of 

 withdrawing from settlement or sale large regions upon 

 the head-waters of streams, and creating forest reserva- 



