222 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



i8, it might be of interest to Professor 

 Moore to learn that of the two types of 

 springs there described, — the small or 

 superficial ones, drawing their supplies 

 from the strata very near where they 

 issue and the large or deeply subterra- 

 nean ones drawing theirs from long dis- 

 tances and large areas as in limestone 

 regions— only the first or local type of 

 springs is found, except in a few rare 

 cases such as at Warm Springs in North 

 Carolina, in all the Southern Appalach- 

 ian region and Professor Moore's 

 French author admits the increased 

 irregularity of flow and even the drying 

 up and entire disappearance of such 

 small springs as a result of cutting 

 away the forests. This is exactly in 

 accordance with what is found in the 

 field in the South and had Professor 

 Moore known the actual conditions in 

 the region about which he was writing 

 he probably would have omitted this 

 quotation. 



Several pages are devoted by Profes- 

 sor Moore to discussing the academic 

 question of the source of flood waters in 

 the United States. Whatever the source 

 of these waters no one has yet pro- 

 posed to alter or change in any way the 

 general system of atmospheric circula- 

 tion over the country at large and until 

 this is successfully done the rains will 

 continue to come from the same sources 

 as of yore. It is not a question of 

 where the rains come from, hut what 

 we are going to do with them — or they 

 with us — after they have gotten here. 



Erosion is handled very briefly and 

 lightly by Professor Moore and no very 

 definite conclusion or conviction as to 

 it is expressed. Erosion is, however, 

 one of the most powerful destructive 

 agencies at work in the mountain region 

 and is of supreme importance in any 

 study of the relationship between forests 

 and streams. There is not room here 

 for any detailed discussion of erosion but 

 it will be referred to again in discussing 

 the question whether floods are increas- 

 ing or not. 



In discussing the ratio of the forested 

 area, or mountain watersheds, to the to- 

 tal watershed there is the same failure 

 to appreciate the differences between 



these mountain watersheds and the roll- 

 ing or level plain portion of the great 

 stream systems that has been noted al- 

 ready. 



The flood problem so far as the lower, 

 more nearly level lands is concerned, is 

 not a forestry problem but an agricultu- 

 ral one and nobody is proposing to con- 

 sider it as a forestry problem. 



On page 25 Professor Moore itali- 

 cises two consecutive sentences, each of 

 which demands some brief comment. 

 They are as follows "The rugged moun- 

 tain slopes and tops, zvhere land has lit- 

 tle value, are unimportant as flood pro- 

 ducers. It zvill he necessary actually to 

 reforest the lozver slopes and valleys 

 zchere the land is of great value and 

 where it should be devoted to agricultu- 

 ral purposes." In the first of these sen- 

 tences there is, apparently, the former 

 confusion of linking steep mountain 

 slope causative factors directly with 

 mid and lower main stream flood results 

 and there is at the same time apparently 

 a total ignorance of the perfectly evident 

 fact that these rugged slopes are most 

 important flood producers in such large 

 tributary basins as the Watauga, the 

 French Broad, the Pigeon and the Little 

 Tennessee, all of which lie among the 

 mountains themselves. With regard to 

 the second sentence above quoted one 

 wonders if there has been a slip of the 

 pen or if, despite all of his arguments to 

 the contrary, its author really means to 

 say that forests do after all exert an 

 efficient regulative influence on flood 

 production. 



The last topic discussed is whether 

 floods are increasing. Here again Pro- 

 fessor Moore has in mind floods on the 

 lower, navigable portions of stream sys- 

 tems. His argument and array of sta- 

 tistics, when balanced against Mr. 

 Leighton's opposing ones, are at most 

 not convincing. The present writer, 

 however, has studied in the field certain 

 processes that are of such widespread 

 occurrence and distinctive character as 

 to leave no doubt that floods are increas- 

 ing both in frequency and in height. 

 These processes have to do with erosion 

 as the chief causative factor and a very 

 brief statement concerning them be- 

 comes necessary. 



