66 Union Bay 



sat in the bow and like all beginners dipped his blade so 

 deep that each stroke brought up a heavy and messy strand 

 of weeds. Finally he said: 



"I don't like this stuff. It's a nuisance, it wraps around my 

 paddle and triples the work. It ruins a place for swimming. 

 There ought to be a way of getting rid of it." 



I made no comment, but he did not let the matter drop: 



"What's the trouble?" he asked. "You don't say anything. 

 Am I wrong?" 



"You're partly right," I answered. "From a standpoint of 

 swimming and paddling, it is a nuisance. But from there on, 

 you're wrong. You might as well say that you like lawns bet- 

 ter than vegetables and grainfields, and you think that lawns 

 should be put in to replace them." 



"I don't quite get the idea," he said. 



I explained to him that streams, lakes, and other bodies of 

 water are heavy producers of animal and vegetable life, and 

 that much of this life is of considerable value to man. A 

 sandy beach makes a splendid place for swimming and sun- 

 bathing but is almost a complete loss as a producer of the 

 things that man and other animals need for sustenance and 

 shelter. Its shifting often prevents growth; moreover, it fre- 

 quently lacks the essentials that produce growth. Generally 

 speaking, it is as useless as the rock exposures and alkaline 

 strips found in certain western agricultural districts. 



The opinion of this boy is that of many people. They de- 

 sire a summer place on a lake where the beaches are clean 

 and sandy. They also want good fishing. If every property 

 owner had this first wish granted, it would mean a deep and 

 clean basin with no vegetation to clog or discolor the water. 

 Such a lake might be a great satisfaction to bathers and a 

 delight to the eye but where would the fish come from? We 

 could not raise cattle if hayfields and pastures were con- 

 verted into lawns. Cattle and fish must eat: cattle must have 

 hay and pasture and fish must get their living, directly or 



