UNCLE SAM’S BIGGEST BANK ACCOUNT 28 
the term “Conservation” has become a household word 
in the short space of eight years. It is doubtful if any 
economic movement ever had a more rapid rise. 
In order that a correct idea of the present situation 
may be obtained a brief review of all the natural re- 
sources will be of interest and at the same time the 
steps that are being taken to insure their proper use 
may be mentioned. 
Land.—The most valuable of all natural resources to 
a nation is land for from it with the assistance of 
sufficient water and a favorable climate comes the food of 
the people. Unless a nation owns plenty of fertile land 
it is truly poor no matter how much gold or precious 
minerals it may possess. 
Of the total area of the United States 1,900,000,000 
acres (about 3,000,000 square miles) approximately 
forty-five per cent or 850,000,000 acres is in farms. Of 
the one-fourth held as forest mention is made elsewhere 
but in addition about one-eighth is cut-over timber land 
or covered with an open scrubby growth. One-fifth of 
the land surface is arid or at least requires partial 
irrigation while one twenty-fifth is swamp land which 
will require drainage before it can become productive. 
Upon the 6,000,000 farms it is estimated that fully 
three-fourths of the owners are engaged in a kind of 
agriculture which may be well named ‘‘soil robbery.’’ 
That is, by selling each year the fertility of the farm in 
the form of crops and by replacing little if any of the 
mineral salts removed, the power of farm land to pro- 
duce rich crops is being greatly diminished. The farm 
yields are decreasing on half our farms and we grow 
but fourteen bushels of wheat per acre against twenty- 
eight in Germany, and thirty-two bushels per acre in 
England. Unless the farmers of this country commence, 
