The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-12-21

each new succeeding generation
things. None ever has been disap-
pointed. I think none ever will be.
Natural Resources Not Exhausted
Treasures have developed in ex-
act accordance with the meaning,
at The time, of the word treasure.
"Now we have new ideas of the
meaning Of that word. Some there
are who talk of the exhaustion of
our natural resources, which are
our greatest treasures, but we
whose field is science are begin
ming to feel sure that this need
not occur, that new sources of sup
ply continually are to be found by
those who realize and search and
understand.
'This is absolutely true in the
fields of agriculture and engineer
ing-the one being that of raw
that of it's utilization.
"When l was boy about one
fourth of the United States was
shown in school biographies as
desert. Four-fifths of all that area
since then has been proved to be
suitable for human habitation and
the establishment of various kinds
of industries.
owe have developed lands once
known as desert until they are at
present more productive than that
land which then was known as the
nations very best.
"In irrigated country water is
directed to selected area, and
then the greatest possible effort
follows to make that area as pro-
ductive as may be.
"The result has been extraordi-
nary. The so-called desert areas
of the United States which have
been put into production are more
efficient acre for acre, than any
other in the world except the truck
gardens of Holland, Belgium, the
eastern edges of the United States
and the market gardens of China,
where the apothcosis of soil-utili-
zation has been reached.
Where Mans Glory Lies.
Natural conditions? Mans glory
lies in his ability to overcome those
which are adverse. Today Steffans-
son is raising reindeer for meat up
IN the Arctic! Man is the only
animal which can live in all en-
vlronmcnts, Exactly that mar
does.
"And now the challenge CT the
desert may be said to have been
answered. Man steadily has ad-
vanced.
Goal and oil were known at first
simply as fuel materials. Now a
mere list Of the many different ar
ticles manufactured from these raw
materials would fill hundreds of
pages;
when l was born coal was coal
and oil went into lamps. Now,
passed along through the labora-
tories of the chemists, both inhu-
cnce in many ways the daily lives
Of allof US.
When the white man came to
America the, Indians were raising
corn and eating it when boiled or
roasted. Today corn may be boiled
or roasted, but it is prepared as
food in many ether ways. and, be-
sides, produces oil and great
number of other useful by-prod-
"cts. ~" -aGfAQ
"All these new uses for coal, oil,
corn and thousand other things,
have been due to the work of the
research men.
The utilization Of the desert for
the production Of rubber and for
many other things will come from
similar effort. That is what will
save us from disasters of exhaust
ed resources.
we can find more than one thing
available for any given use. A com
plete list of the plants from which
we derive our foods and textiles
must seem pitifully small to any
botanlst with even a limited expert
knowledge of the flora of the
world. He knows that there are
hundreds other than those on
Whlch man now depends principally
ior his support, which could be
made available if all or anv of
these, through tragic magic, should
become extinct.
DEMONSTRATION of wild plalrs is
not simple or quick matter, but
is possible. Our principal CROP
plants have reached their present
stage Of development after thou
sands OF years of guidance.
1T is only recently that this
work has been sure and even rca-
Sonably fast. With mans advanc.
inE knowledge Of hcrcdity and cvo-
luton in plant life, we now should
be able to take a wild plant Gas we
should be and are able to take
almost any new mincraD and in q
decade make more advance with it
Continued on page Gvc)