110 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 838 



In no direction is the quantitative method 

 of dealing with resources more novel and 

 helpful than in connection vrith v^ater — at 

 once a mineral and the menstruum of vitality; 

 and Van Hise applies the method effectively. 

 The average rainfall of the United States is 

 about 30 inches, or only haK that required 

 for full productivity of the soil; the aggre- 

 gate volume is 215,000,000,000,000 cubic feet; 

 or, expressed in terms already familiar 

 throughout the semi-arid region, about 5,000,- 

 000,000 aere-feet annually — equivalent to ten 

 Mississippi rivers flowing constantly. Of the 

 total, about one third runs down to the sea in 

 rivers of which many are navigable though 

 little used in aid of commerce — ^for with the 

 habitual extravagance of the world's wildest 

 wasters our people prefer to pay three or four 

 times the cost of water transportation for car- 

 riage of their abounding freight by rail. This 

 is the run-ofl'; and the remaining two thirds 

 (forming the fly-off and the cut-off) are con- 

 sidered with respect to both uses and wastes. 

 Not only are the leading facts well brought 

 out, but the equities arising in connection 

 with this resource are discussed with clearness 

 and conviction. It is growing evident — in- 

 deed, it is already recognized by many influ- 

 ential citizens — that in the last analysis the 

 waters of the country belong to the people of 

 the country, and must be administered in their 

 interest ; and Van Hise cites and discusses the 

 laws and decisions taking this trend. 



Our once abounding but now sadly depleted 

 forests are treated along the lines established 

 by the work of the forest service, i. e., at once 

 as sources of timber, preservers of streams and 

 enhancers of the beauty and habitability of 

 the country as a home for a prosperous and 

 patriotic people; and the extent, uses and 

 wastes of the forest resources are listed and 

 discussed in informing fashion. The lands 

 are treated largely with reference to produc- 

 tion- — a production measured partly by the 

 soil but yet more largely by the water applied 

 to it naturally or through irrigation. Before 

 the exploitation of the mineral resources and 

 timber began, America was the home of a 



freehold landed citizenry, and the abounding 

 products of the soil not only easily sustained 

 the food-producing population of the time, but 

 left a large margin for export ; but now that a 

 large part of our people are engaged in manu- 

 facturing and ancillary industries rather than 

 in producing staples for food and clothing, 

 our exports of these staples are declining — 

 and even at home the pinch of reduced pro- 

 duction is felt in advancing prices. It is 

 clearly a need of the time to augment the 

 yield of staples, not merely per acre cultivated, 

 but per worker in the field; it is not only 

 needful to make two ears of grain grow where 

 one grew before, but the farmer must double 

 or triple the product of his own work in order 

 that his manufacturing fellows may be fed; 

 and this may be attained by judicious con- 

 servation of the energy residing in fertile soil 

 and intelligent husbandry. For even the 

 teeming population of to-day is not the end 

 for this country; our inhabitants and indus- 

 trial differentiation are increasing with each 

 generation, and must continue to increase 

 apace if this nation is to fulfill its manifest 

 destiny as the chief home and strength of the 

 Caucasian race. Consistently, Van Hise 

 urges conservation and increase of the ele- 

 ments of fertility in the soil ; he indicates and 

 deplores the wastes due to soil erosion and 

 negligent farming; and he applies his own 

 expert knowledge in describing the phosphate 

 deposits of the country and advocating their 

 retention and use. In his closing division he 

 especially emphasizes the current movement 

 as one connected with the public welfare and 

 brings out its patriotic character — ^for in very 

 fact the perpetuity of this most exuberant and 

 wasteful of nations is at stake. 



Throughout, Van Hise crystallizes conser- 

 vation as a definite and trenchant idea, a 

 specific principle, a basis and guide for ac- 

 tion : " Do the principles of conservation de- 

 mand that it [legislation] shall be done 1 " 

 (p. 97) ; " Conservation requires us to en- 

 courage concentration and coupling in order 

 that we may get the greatest efficiency of the 

 water " (p. 135) ; " Conservation does not de- 

 mand that no tree be cut, but that whenever a 



