i6o 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Accordino^ to Mr. Zbrojek, an expe- 

 dition organized in 1894 by the minister 

 of agriculture of Russia^ and led by 

 Lieutenant-general Tillo, found that the 

 upper course of the Dnieper, in a heav- 

 ily wooded region, holds thirty-four per 

 cent of water per square verst ; the 

 Molenka and Nemochtchnaia,the basins 

 of which are less heavily w^ooded, retain 

 twenty-eight to thirty-one per cent, 

 wdiile the Liodivitch River, the basin of 

 which is entirely denuded, holds only 

 thirteen per cent. In the basin of the 

 Oka. the same commission found that 

 the percentage of water held rises to 

 thirty-nine per cent in the drainage 

 basin of the Libotije River, which is 

 pretty well covered with forests, while 

 it is only twenty-nine per cent in that of 

 the Traun. which is deforested. 



In Russia, as in France, there are 

 mimerous historic evidences of the 

 diminution of stream-flow. Streams 

 have dried up in places where the re- 

 mains of boats and other instruments 

 of navigation are found and where the 

 existence of navigation in former times 

 is confirmed by old documents. 



The lowering of the average stream 

 level of the Scura at Pranzine from 

 1888 to 1900 followed upon extensive 

 clearings on its watershed. A lowering 

 has likewise been observed in the av- 

 erage stream level of the r)ielaja at 

 On fa from 1887 to 1900, following 

 upon clearings made on its upper water- 

 shed ; on the contrary, the level re- 

 mained the same at Grouzdevka on the 

 lower watershed of the Bielaja, wdiere 

 the forests were preserved. The av- 

 erage stream level in summer of the 

 Volga was lowered at Rybinsk, at Kos- 

 troma, and at Nijni-Novgorod, follow- 

 ing the deforestation of that part of the 

 watershed. The diagrams that accom- 

 pany Mr. Lokhtine's report show this 

 phenomena in a striking way. 



These are the most salient facts and 

 the most interesting observations 

 pointed out by Mr. Lokhtine. It is very 

 nnich to be regretted that Mr. Rabot 

 has passed them over in silence and has 

 not reviewed them with his well-known 

 al)ility ; it would have been very profit- 

 able to us. 



The following conclusions are reached 

 in ]\Ir. Lokhtine's report: "Forests are 

 a beneficial factor, acting favorably 

 upon an abundance of water in a coun- 

 try, in general, and in particular upon 

 maintaining an even stream-flow. It is 

 for this reason that the destruction of 

 forests should be considered danger- 

 ous." 



These conclusions should be com- 

 pared, moreover, with those at the close 

 of Mr. Lauda's report, reproduced else- 

 where by Mr. Rabot in the article cited 

 above. 



"The utilit\- of the forest in gen- 

 eral, as well as its great value in pro- 

 tecting the soil against landslides, ap- 

 pear the more vindicated, because, at 

 the same time, it retains loosened soil, 

 and its advantages from the point of 

 view of the diminution of waste matter 

 carried by the streams, especially on the 

 watersheds of the sources, are so im- 

 ])ortant that this reason alone should 

 lie a sufficient motive for undertaking 

 reforestation as actively as possible." 



II 



We have tried to give in the first 

 part of this study as complete and faith- 

 ful an analysis as possible of the prin- 

 cipal reports presented at the congress 

 at ]\Iilan. We now wish to try to show 

 that beside the facts and observations 

 brought to the congress by Messrs. 

 Ponti and Lokhtine, to cite only those 

 two. there are others on whicli we are 

 able to su])port a scientific conviction 

 that the forest has a favorable action 

 upon floods, and the maintenance of 

 springs and stream-flow. 



THE FOREST .\XD FEOODS 



The principal factors that work to- 

 gether to produce floods are exception- 

 all v heavy rainfall, the geological form- 

 ation of the soil, and the topography of 

 the land through which the streams 

 flow. A very heavy rain falling for 

 several days on very stee]) sloi)cs com- 

 posed of impermeable soil, such as those 

 of the southern slopes of the Cevennes, 

 ends to a certainty in dangerous floods, 



