UNCLE SAM’S BIGGEST BANK ACCOUNT 33 
cherished possessions. Fortunately a start has been 
made toward the protection of the natural resources and 
future generations should receive a fair share of their 
inheritance if the plans now being laid by the far- 
sighted leaders of the conservation movement do not 
sadly miscarry. <A brief review of these plans will be 
highly interesting. 
Concerning the method of handling the land now 
owned by the Government, while the period of free land 
has passed and there are but few homes to give away, 
land is still extremely cheap in comparison with that in 
the Old World. The Federal Department of Agricul- 
ture is co-operating with the States and the various 
experiment stations give advice freely regarding the 
raising of crops, the proper fertilization and rotation 
to practice. With the spread of the co-operative system 
of marketing farm products, agriculture in the United 
States will be upon a sound basis, as the farmers will 
receive a larger portion of the market price of his 
crops and will be correspondingly prosperous. Upon 
economical agriculture largely rests the future of the 
United States. 
The waters of the country are being more freely 
used and better controlled each year. The Reclamation 
Service is making the desert bloom like the rose in 
bringing water to lands already possessing plenty of 
salts and sunshine and new homes are being supplied 
to the small farmer upon easy terms, which will permit 
him to pay for his ten to forty acre tract in from ten 
to twenty years. The inland waterways are recelving 
the attention of Congress and the various States, so 
that rivers capable of navigation will be used to trans- 
port bulky freights at a fraction of railroad rates. The 
development of water power is proceeding apace. 
