Show the land doctor by vivian shearer mrs mr altwin was right in a general way the in the fieldsend fields field sand and herdsmen in the hills bills and the rugged workers ot of the forests have always been as careless of their stock in trade as ahe the ruler and war lords have been with theirs perhaps that was because they lacked an understanding der dir standing 0 o of the nature and properties and tile the limited supply ot of the soil that was theirs perhaps they did not not see thit that it wa was 9 not as quickly feie replenished e d as was the supply of soldiers which the war lord found so plentiful and cheap and inexhaustible haus tible 1 A gully to io them perhaps was only an inconvenience perhaps the silting up of river channels the depositing of gravel and debris on cultivated fields the swallowing up of fertile fields along river banks the loss of fertility and in the fields and a ad all similar blighting results of 0 soil boll erosion once once were accepted only as manifestations odthe of the wrath or of their matter maker I 1 wonder it if they ever associated d these things with the idea of the loss of a treasure that could never be replaced replace d I 1 wonder li it they ever understood that those disasters were avoidable and were caused by improper land practices I 1 doubt it they the people next to the soil did realize these things I 1 am loss less inclined to believe that the wise ones further removed from the soil so 11 had aej any better understanding many of 0 use even in voryce very recent years have been guilty of abusing good land we did I 1 it t because we were ignorant however ever it was not so long iong ago that the situation became so serious that not even the blind or most prejudiced could longer ignore 3 I 1 it t the story was ivas carried aar across 0 the nation in terrorizing clouds cloud of dust tortured soil from the he ravaged lands of the great plains plain drifted into the sight ot of the th a mighty washington it topped d the story ot of the gullies ot of tobacco road or floods ot silted channels of falling failing reservoirs ervo irs at ae last fast the warning of impending doom was heeded aj ai national forces were unleash aado ci to study the problem and seek y a the land doctor continued from page one r land use ByAr by trial fal and ad error thir they have sought to learn the best me means ans of checking active erosion and to restore areas in various stages of depletion A va vast at fund of information all and d knowledge h has as been assembled although much additional knowl knowledge edgo will be acquired d by further the a 0 atme in has arrived r when greater relater emphasis rn phaedon pla cedon making all ali the facts and figu figures res av available a liable to those who live e by the soil boll and work it they are the ones who mug must t grasp the significance of 0 the catastrophe toward which civilization has I 1 been drifting they must feel sure of the means by which amay it may be averted the challenge Is that theirs rs but bt equip them with proper oft ing arid and they vall me meet at I 1 it t bold 0 ly and decisively W |