In the newer parts of our country we can reasonably hope to save most of the forests and most of the wild life, and pass them on down to our children and grandchildren in something of their primeval beauty and richness.
In the East we can hope to arouse a stronger sentiment for preserving what remains of the forests as well as for extending their areas, for proper forestation will lessen the danger of erosion of the soil and of floods, and will encourage the return of the wild creatures that are of so much economic importance and add so much to the joy of life.
A book bringing out in a simple and interesting manner the principles of conservation has long been needed, for there has been little that could be placed in the hands of pupils. It is with the earnest hope of furnishing something which will answer in part the present need that this Conservation Reader has been prepared.
Acknowledgments are due the publishers of American Forestry and the Century Magazine for courteous permission to reprint poems taken from those publications. For their help in supplying photographic subjects to illustrate the book, thanks are extended to the persons to whom the various illustrations are accredited in immediate connection with their use in the text. The reproductions in color of two bird subjects have been secured through the friendly coöperation of Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary of the National Association of Audubon Societies.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| 1. | How Our First Ancestors Lived | [1] |
| 2. | How Our Needs Differ from Those of the First Men | [9] |
| 3. | The Earth as It Was Before the Coming of Civilized Men | [18] |
| 4. | Nature's Unequal Distribution of Her Gifts | [25] |
| 5. | The Land of the Poor People | [32] |
| 6. | What the Muddy Rivulet Has to Say | [39] |
| 7. | How Far Will Nature Restore Her Wasted Gifts? | [44] |
| 8. | The Soil—The Most Important Gift of Nature | [51] |
| 9. | Things of Which Soil Is Made | [57] |
| 10. | How the Soil Is Made | [61] |
| 11. | How Vegetation Holds the Soil | [67] |
| 12. | What Happens Where There Is No Protecting Carpet of Vegetation | [73] |
| 13. | The Use and Care of Water | [81] |
| 14. | Could We Get Along without the Trees? | [89] |
| 15. | Where Has Nature Spread the Forest? | [96] |
| 16. | What Are the Enemies of the Trees? | [104] |
| 17. | How the Forests Are Wasted | [112] |
| 18. | How the Forests Suffer from Fires | [119] |
| 19. | Evils that Follow the Destruction of the Forests | [125] |
| 20. | How Our Government Is Helping to Save the Forests | [130] |
| 21. | Our Forest Playgrounds | [139] |
| 22. | What Is Happening to the Wild Flowers | [144] |
| 23. | Nature's Penalty for Interfering with Her Arrangements | [150] |
| 24. | What Shall We Do When the Coal, Oil, and Gas Are Gone? | [155] |
| 25. | Need for Protection of Creatures That Live in the Water | [162] |
| 26. | Man More Destructive than the Other Animals | [171] |
| 27. | What Is Happening to the Animals and Birds | [176] |
| 28. | The Tragedies of Milady's Hat and Cape | [183] |
| 29. | The Court of the Animals and Birds | [188] |
| 30. | The Birds Our Good Friends and Pleasant Companions | [195] |
| 31. | How to Bring the Wild Creatures Back Again | [203] |
| Index | [213] |