RURAL FORCES 



supply the needs of every acre of tillable 

 soil in that state. Only about 44% of the 

 wood in the trees now harvested in the 

 United States is incorporated into buildings, 

 apparatus and furniture. The rest is wasted 

 in the process of cutting, sawing and manu- 

 facturing into the finished products. 



Facts like these have led the nation to 

 realize that the conservation of our natural 

 resources is an immediate and pressing 

 problem. The United States has, however, 

 a greater inheritance than these great and 

 beneficent gifts of nature and a more funda- 

 mental problem than the preservation and 

 efficient use of them. In a single sentence, 

 the greatest inheritance of the American 

 people is their Puritan ancestry. The word 

 Puritan is here used to apply not only to the 

 New England Pilgrims, but to all our early 

 forefathers, whose traditions and practices 

 have served to set this country apart from 

 the other countries of the world. Because 

 of the traditions which have been handed 

 down to us, we are healthier-bodied and 

 cleaner-minded men and women. We are 

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