8 Conservation Reader 



the rapidly moving air. After wind and water had been 

 forced to serve them, some one who had seen the lid of a 

 tea kettle dancing up and down, thought of using steam. 

 Then electricity, which in the form of jagged lightning had 

 seemed so fearful a thing to the early people, was harnessed 

 and made the greatest servant of all the forces of Nature. 



The discovery of powder led to the making of guns so 

 destructive that dozens of birds could be killed at one 

 shot. 



Some people became greedy and used all these wonderful 

 discoveries to rob Nature. It seemed as if in some places 

 all the wild life would be destroyed. Fires were allowed to 

 burn the forest unhindered. The soil was made to produce 

 crops until it grew poor. 



If we become selfish and indifferent and neglect to care 

 for the treasures which Nature has placed in our hands, 

 very serious things will happen to us, as they have happened 

 to other people. How to use the storehouse of Nature 

 without wasting or destroying these treasures is what we 

 mean by conservation. 



