THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



rather open up such a system of betterments 

 as we have here considered than to leave a 

 five-thousand-dollar drinking fountain, 

 with a basin at the foot for thirsty canines, 

 and my name cut half an inch deep in the 

 marble. 



We hear a great deal just now about 

 the conservation of our natural resources, 

 meaning coal, lumber and soil fertility. I 

 know a dozen towns where the scenery is 

 worth more than the agriculture, and a 

 thousand where it is worth more than the 

 coal and lumber. Take it from the Pacific 

 to the Atlantic and I am willing to assert 

 that the scenery is worth more than any 

 other item except the fertility of the soil. 

 It is one of our very greatest natural re- 

 sources; and any conservation commission 

 which forgets it has not yet waked up to 

 business. 



In connection with conservation of 

 resources we must have resource surveys. 

 Let all such surveys make careful inventory 

 of our landscape wealth, and be sure that 

 the items receive something like a just 

 valuation. 



It would be worth something if a state 

 like Massachusetts or Colorado or Cali- 



220 



