. Loyal citizenship. government long ago disposedof all the best of its lands that were naturally adaptedto farming. This it did under the Homestead Actand earlier acts, through grants to ex-soldiers andto railroads, and by direct sales. The cultivatedarea of our country can now be extended chieflyby the reclamation of deserts and swamps and theoverflow lands along our great rivers. To this endthe United States Reclamation Service has builtgreat dams, like the Arrow Rock dam in Idaho,behind which are stored the waters of the BoiseRiver, and brought water to tens of thousands ofacres. At the sa
. Loyal citizenship. government long ago disposedof all the best of its lands that were naturally adaptedto farming. This it did under the Homestead Actand earlier acts, through grants to ex-soldiers andto railroads, and by direct sales. The cultivatedarea of our country can now be extended chieflyby the reclamation of deserts and swamps and theoverflow lands along our great rivers. To this endthe United States Reclamation Service has builtgreat dams, like the Arrow Rock dam in Idaho,behind which are stored the waters of the BoiseRiver, and brought water to tens of thousands ofacres. At the same time, great areas of swamp landhave been drained. The problem of preventing thedestructive floods which frequently occur in manyriver valleys, especially the Mississippi, have beenstudied and government aid supplied. A great dealhas been done, too, by state and local governmentsand by private enterprise to reclaim land (Figs. 105and 106). Much remains to be done, as in checking the waste- 255 256 Loyal Citizenship. U. S. Reclamation Service Fig. 101. The dam at Arrow Rock. The spillway, at the left, permitsexcess water to escape from the immense reservoir. fill use of land by individuals. Sometimes bad farm-ing methods are practiced to the ruination of theland; and erosion of farm lands (their washing away)is too often allowed to go on when it could easilyenough be stopped. This is httle short of man should be permitted to waste the sourceof the living of all of us. Wasting the forests. Much of the primeval forestof our country had to be cut away in order to makethe land usable for farming. The early settlers,indeed, thought of the forest as an enemy to beconquered. The United States sold very cheaplyor gave away vast tracts of timber land to private Conservalion of Natural Resources 257 ^T^ •* ■m^: .jssJ&at ^i> rva^ai iSSfe??^. r%**^. ^
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