Makch 16, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



251 



Embreeville iron mines of Tennessee, mines 

 that have been operated intermittently for 

 something like seventy years, it appears 

 that there have been wasted during all that 

 time, large quantities of zinc ore, the pres- 

 ence of which was only recently discovered 

 by an employee of the mining company 

 now owning the property. This has, during 

 all these years, been mined with the iron, 

 dumped with it into the furnace, and 

 driven oif as volatile matter into the air. 

 It is not at all improbable that the value 

 of the zinc thus wasted is greater than that 

 of the iron recovered. For this mine has 

 proved to contain large deposits of zinc, 

 and is now worked for zinc, with iron as a 

 by-product. The mines at Leadville, Colo- 

 rado, have had a similar history. It is as 

 necessary to keep our eyes open in a devel- 

 oped mine as on unprospected ground. 



SOIL AND TIMBER CONSERVATION 



While this congress does not immediately 

 concern itself with soil conservation, the 

 title of this paper requires me to say that 

 in those states that are subject to rapid ero- 

 sion, there is no more important duty of the 

 state geologist than to reduce the waste 

 from soil wash to the minimum. No one 

 knows so well as he, the slow process of soil 

 formation, and the rapid rate at which the 

 hillside accumulations of many thousands 

 of years are removed by uncontrolled run- 

 ning water. The education of those who 

 till the soil to the great importance of pre- 

 serving it from wash is an overwhelmingly 

 discouraging undertaking, but notwith- 

 standing one which we can not shirk. 



In the conservation of our resources, the 

 state geologist, possibly above all others, 

 should look into the future and be con- 

 trolled by its prospective demands. Our 

 rapidly increasing population ; the near oc- 

 cupancy of all our farming and pastoral 

 lands; the possible, even probable, deple- 



tion of the soils, natural fuels and useful 

 minerals; all these should have his most 

 serious attention. In those states where 

 forestry legally comes within the duties of 

 the state geologist, an additional responsi- 

 bility of the greatest importance and one 

 that often requires much diplomacy, is 

 placed upon him. 



LEGISLATION AND CONSERVATION 



The comprehensive efforts of the state 

 geologist for conservation ultimately re- 

 quire him to do what he can for construc- 

 tive statesmanship. It is best to attempt 

 conservation through the education of those 

 who earn their livelihood from our natural 

 resources, but at times it becomes necessary 

 to supplement this by legislative enactment. 

 This does not of necessity mean that those 

 engaged in placing natural products on the 

 market are vandals, or even that they are 

 indifferent to waste of material. Among 

 our most ardent and practical conserva- 

 tionists at present are men engaged in 

 farming, mining and lumbering. The ne- 

 cessity for legislation may, and often does, 

 mean that the complete and economic utili- 

 zation of a natural resource requires con- 

 formation to a broad and well-worked-out 

 plan that must be put in operation in' state- 

 wide, or it may be inter-state, proportions. 

 In such cases, it becomes incumbent upon 

 the state or the nation to impose such re- 

 strictions as are consistent with the most 

 complete utilization of such product, the 

 rights of the public, and fairness to capital. 



Of such nature is the problem of water- 

 power development in the states that pos- 

 sess it in large amount. This is a natural 

 resource, the future importance of which 

 probably the most sanguine do not realize. 

 There are two ways of having it developed. 

 One is the haphazard way, by which any 

 power site can be occupied without regard 

 to whether the available power is all util- 



