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" Forest Service is the sole present example of a branch of our 

 National Government which finds the reason for its existence in 

 the need of a long look ahead " ; and he rightly emphasizes the 

 present discussion of the conservation of natural resources as 

 "the most fundamental question now before the country." For 

 " if we succeed in the conservation of our natural resources, we 

 shall have an opportunity to succeed in everything else." 



Science has recently printed another article on the coconut 

 bacterial disease known as bud-rot, which is becoming very com- 

 mon in tropical America. " It is confined to the crown, or ter- 

 minal bud, of the tree, in which it causes a soft, vile-smelling rot. 

 Owing to the great height of the coconut trees and the difficulty 

 experienced in getting at the terminal bud, surrounded as it is 

 by the sheathing cases of the petioles of the leaves, it is 

 almost impossible to treat the disease locally." The results of 

 the investigations carried on by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture and by appropriations in Cuba are expected to prove 

 helpful. At present the disease seems to be increasing rapidly 

 and none but very early cases are checked by treatment. 



Professor Edward L. Nichols, retiring president of the Amerian 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, in his Baltimore 

 address on "Science and the Practical Problems of the Future", 

 said, " Forests may be renewed and the soil restored to its maxi- 

 mum fertility but the problem which is presently to confront the 

 race is that of civilized existence without recourse to energy stored 

 by the slow processes of nature. This problem must be definitely 

 solved before the complete exhaustion of our inherited capital. 

 The problem is not without conceivable solution, since the annual 

 accession of energy from the sun, did we know how to utilize it 

 without awaiting the slow processes of storage employed by 

 nature, is ample for every thinkable need of the future inhabitants 

 of our planet. Estimates of the constant of solar radiation show 

 that about 2.18 kilowatts of power is continually received from 

 the sun for every square meter of the earth's surface or over 

 seven and a half millions of horse-power per square mile. The 



