POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES 213 



the figures for the Nile, applying them boldly to Arizona, Colorado, 

 Nevada and the other arid states, we shall arrive at a population of 

 eighty million for the arid regions. The eastern man will incline to 

 think this conclusion savors of fancy, and the Cordilleran enthusiast will 

 in like manner think it sober and sensible prophecy. All will agree, 

 however, that the food production of the country willl rise by a marked 

 increase when reclamation work has been carried toward its maximum. 

 Whether many millions or several tens of millions will thus be added 

 to our numbers is not important to our present purpose. That the 

 growth will be large none denies. 



A further great gain will be made in the drainage of our marsh 

 lands, both of the marine and of the fresh- water type. That this is in no 

 way theoretical appears in the vast European areas, which, though now 

 densely peopled, were more or less covered by water a millennium ago. 

 Professor Shaler counted that the area of swamp lands rises to more 

 than 100,000 square miles, reckoning only such marshes as would be 

 considered reclaimable in northern Europe, and he believes that they 

 would be equal in production to the three states on the north bank of 

 the Ohio Eiver, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. When one remembers the 

 quality of a drained swamp, and that the area of available marshes is 

 about three fourths as great as these combined states, he will have no 

 difficulty with this conclusion. 



The importance of this reserve has recently been accented by the 

 proposal of Senator H. C. Hansbrough, to make these marshes also sub- 

 ject to reclamation by federal action. Further emphasis is warranted 

 by the easy proximity of many of these lands to great eastern markets, 

 and by their adaptation to the intensive culture of many crops. 



We may be challenged in the statement that forest lands of some 

 extent may yet be spared for tillage. The writer yields to no one in 

 loyal conviction of the importance of forest conservation, or in con- 

 demnation of congressional delay and inaction. Ultimate adaptation 

 will control in forest conservation, and some lands will be cleared for 

 needful and effective tillage, and their loss will be counterbalanced by 

 the foresting of other areas where unfitness for the plow is now evident. 



We shall also replace forest products in a more extended use of 

 underground materials for buildings and implements. As in Europe 

 the clay pit and the quarry will afford means of curtailing the forest. 

 Likewise the use of the fibers of grain plants for the making of paper 

 will release timber for other uses or timber land for other crops. We 

 need also to remember that the remaining forests will be properly con- 

 served and made largely and permanently productive. When, forty 

 years ago, the Irish laborer planted his potato patch by the railway 

 track, or when to-day the Italian immigrant raises his vegetables in 

 waste corners, it has not been recognized that he is the pioneer of the 

 future. It is the traveler in such foreign lands as Belgium, Norway 

 or Italy, who becomes able to appreciate the waste of American soils. 



