IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 21 



may be, of the state's supply of surf ace moisture. By the voice 

 of all authority, by the teaching of all experience, by every 

 presumption of science such treatment of Iowa lands and such 

 only is rational, wise, and hope-inspiring for the future. 



But now the edict has gone f ortli that the woodland must be 

 cleared; every forest must be hewn down We are told over 

 and over again that Iowa has less waste land than any state in 

 the Union, that she has hardly an acre that may not pass under 

 the plow; and in our effort to make good our boast we are in 

 danger of committing irretrievable damage upon what was 

 indeed the most magnificent heritage of this whole Mississippi 

 valley. 



I have left out of view in this argument entirely the aesthetic 

 side of this question, the necessity of streams and lakes and 

 woodlands to the aesthetic side of human nature. The absolute 

 need of the milder healing influences of natural beauty to our 

 eager, anxious, overworked, care-burdened, gain-seeking people 

 I have elsewhere found occasion to discuss. Nor have I touched 

 at all the sentimental side of the problem. I have said nothing 

 of Iowa as a home, as a land suitable in which to rear genera- 

 tion after generation of wise and happy children who shall 

 grow up to love the place of their nativity and nurture; I argue 

 now only for Iowa as a field, a great field enclosed by wires 

 from which may still be forwarded train-load after train-load 

 of corn and beef. The drainage of our prairies, the destruc- 

 tion of what little woods we have, these two things do, in my 

 judgment threaten our wealth, threaten our hope of gain, and 

 therefore ought to command the attention of our people to any 

 reasonable discussion of the question and to commend any effort 

 made to attain a definite knowledge of the truth. 



Bat no sermon is complete without the application, and the 

 question now rises what can the academy do in these premises? 

 We can in the first place investigate. Scattered as we are over the 

 broad domain of the state we can, as we prosecute other lines 

 of inquiry, likewise observe the facts that bear upon the prob- 

 lem here presented. Perhaps the geological survey has already 

 such a line of investigation well in mind. It would surely very 

 properly supplement the discussion of artesian waters. More 

 than this, as we accumulate information, we may take pains 

 to disseminate the same. I am of the opinion that this academy 

 might, with advantage to itself and the public, largely increase 

 its membership and so widen its influence, and thus eventually 



