=The Need of Conservation.=—So long as land remained plentiful and natural resources seemed to be abundant, very little thought was given to the possibility that some day both of these things would become scarce. The land in some parts of the country was exhausted by wasteful methods of cultivation and then abandoned. [Sidenote: Some examples of wasted wealth.] There are thousands of abandoned farms in the New England states. Coal, iron, and copper were mined in ways that permitted enormous wastage. Through negligence much of our forest wealth was destroyed by fire. By the beginning of the twentieth century it began to dawn upon the people that the natural resources of the country were rapidly melting away, that practically all the good land was gone, while the natural resources in the way of coal and timber were being so wastefully used that they would both be exhausted within relatively few decades unless something were done to conserve them. Accordingly a movement for the conservation of natural resources was started and since 1900 it has made considerable progress both in securing the passage of laws and in the education of the public to the urgency of the situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCIENCE REVEALING THE TREASURES OF THE EARTH By Edwin A. Abbey From a mural painting in the Pennsylvania State Capitol at Harrisburg. In this picture the artist portrays an open coal mine into which several mine-workers are descending. They are stalwart, young, artless pioneers, eager for discovery. They impart dramatic energy and realism to the picture. Science is pointing the way. She is accompanied by Fortune, the latter blindfolded and tiptoeing on her wheel. Grasping Fortune’s right hand is Abundance, with an overflowing cornucopia, or horn of plenty, on her shoulder. These mythological figures lend the picture its symbolism. The artist portrays a great truth. Human labor, wisely guided by science, has found fortune and abundance in the mines and quarries of the earth. [Illustration: SCIENCE REVEALING THE TREASURES OF THE EARTH. By Edwin A. Abbey _Copyright by Edwin A. Abbey. From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission._] ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Sidenote: Conservation means three things:]