In minerals and forests the South is equally rich. The coal supply, according to the report of the National Conservation Commission, amounts to 611,748,000,000 tons and the riches in iron in the southern Appalachian district are equally enormous. Forty-one per cent of the remaining forest area is in the same country. Unless a system of conservation is put into operation, however, these vast timber resources will pass away, for the forests are being used at a rate of more than three and one-half times the annual growth. Private interests own 125,000,000 acres in the South and practically none of the timber is being handled with the idea of conservation. There are no "State forests"; neither are there adequate laws for the prevention of forest fires. The economic advancement of the South during the past thirty years has been wonderful. The tide of migration within our country no longer moves Westward as much as Southward and in its wake has followed a flood of capital. The increase of population and capital is necessary to the industrial growth of the South, and in spite of the recent influx the scarcity of laborers remains a serious problem, the solution of which is absolutely necessary for the development of the manufacturing industries as well as agriculture. Immigrants of good standing are constantly sought by the States, and to cope with the problem some individuals have been guilty of operating a system of peonage. Lack of efficiency in the laborers makes the problem still more perplexing. Scientific investigations conducted with the aim of discovering the causes for this general inefficiency have led to the conclusion that the eradication of the mosquito and hook-worm will add greatly to the ability of the wage-earners. A systematic campaign in this direction has been made possible through the recent gift of Mr. Rockefeller. [Illustration] A field of cotton.