. Conservation. Forests and forestry. I50 FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION Alarch thing like a similar situation hitherto has always adopted a single course, that of a spendthrift. And we did the same. We have reached a point now where it is fair for us to take account of what has happened. But one point before I proceed—we must remember that the life of a na- tion represents at least centuries, where the life of a man is measured in decades. Now, what have we done with the physical basis for our future prosperity from that point of view? seen iron mines in full swing where now they are gone; and the s
. Conservation. Forests and forestry. I50 FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION Alarch thing like a similar situation hitherto has always adopted a single course, that of a spendthrift. And we did the same. We have reached a point now where it is fair for us to take account of what has happened. But one point before I proceed—we must remember that the life of a na- tion represents at least centuries, where the life of a man is measured in decades. Now, what have we done with the physical basis for our future prosperity from that point of view? seen iron mines in full swing where now they are gone; and the same is true of the coal. At our present rate of increase of consumption, our an- thracite coal is good for only about 50 years, and our bituminous for only 100 years. That is, within a period of the Nation's life which is equivalent to only a single decade in the life of an individual, the Nation's supply of fuel, that most essential of all products for our present form of civilization, is likelv to be Wasteful methods of lumbering on land now in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota—Such waste is averted under scientific management There are two kinds of resources, renewable and non-renewable re- sources. Resources which come out of the interior of the earth are non- renewable. Those which come from the surface are most of them renew- able. We have treated our mineral resources as if of those there was no end. Many of you here have seen natural gas pouring day and night out of great torches in the States of Indiana and Pennsylvania, from fields now exhausted. Alanv of vou have We have treated our soils in precisely the same way. The figures are familiar to most of you. I will simply say that a billion tons of the most fertile soil on the most fertile land of the United States goes annually into the ocean. It is the largest of all taxes paid by the farmer, and one of the largest losses that the Nation suffers. Hun- dreds of square miles a year are made pract
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