96 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February- 



broader they get — why, the deeper 

 and broader still they get; and they 

 are continually multiplying them- 

 selves. Now, there is nothing but the 

 bare earth to check the force of the 

 water, and small streams gather in 

 every little depression, to dig it deep- 

 er and broader, week by week, and 

 month by month. In union there is 

 strength, for water as well as any- 

 thing else, and it tells its story here. 



Every little drop of water gets a lit- 

 tle soil. Lots of little drops of water, 

 get a pebble. Lots more of little drops 

 of water, _ with their multiplying 

 amount of soil, get a stone ; and still 

 more of the little drops of water get 

 a small boulder. Down they go, mer- 

 rily, to the stream, down goes the 

 stream to the river, then to the ocean 

 or gulf ; and with them, eventually, 

 the soil, the pebble, the stone, and the 

 small boulder. 



The stone and small boulder may 

 go in pieces, yet they go ; and on the 

 way they fill the streams and rivers. 

 The White Mountain-Appalachian 

 Bill was drawn up for the express 

 purpose of preventing this destruc- 

 tion, by cutting the forest in such a 

 way that the soil will always be pro- 

 tected from this erosion, and a plenti- 

 ful supply of trees will be kept for the 

 use of our children and our children's 

 children. 



I see by a local paper that one of 

 our Congressional representatives has 

 secured a much-coveted place on the 

 Committee on Rivers and Harbors. 

 What should a man do when he has 

 secured a position on the Committee 

 on Rivers and Harbors ? 



Now, a man from this State, and a 

 great many other States along the line. 



will wish to get a good, big Appropri- 

 ation (capital A) for the dredging of 

 the Ohio, and also the Mississippi. 

 One complements the other. 



Well, that is all right; they need 

 dredging, but where on this earth are 

 we going to stop dredging? By neg- 

 lecting the problem, what causes the 

 necessity of dredging, and sticking to 

 the dredging itself, to the exclusion of 

 all else, our representatives lead one 

 to think that they consider the leak at 

 the bunghole a small matter compared 

 with the leak at the spigot. 



Man dredges ; and from her waste 

 and wasted lands, old Nature is fill- 

 ing in. ]\Ian dredges ; and old Na- 

 ture, from those ever-increasing fur- 

 rows, continues to fill in. Faster and 

 faster, she fills in ; and in the mean- 

 time, she takes a little spare time to 

 have floods, which destroy not only 

 the houses and the manufactories on 

 the banks of the river, but also the 

 farms, depositing on the fertile land 

 the pebbles and stones which she has 

 left over from her fight with the 

 dredgers. 



Silly, isn't it? Not on Nature's 

 part, for she is only getting revenge 

 for our misuse of her. But it is silly 

 of man. 



Why not ally ourselves with her? 

 Why not save ourselves the loss of 

 lives, goods, and lands? Why do so 

 much dredging to no purpose? 



Poor, old Uncle Sam ! There he is 

 being plundered right before our eyes ; 

 and the man who puts in his vote for 

 large sums for dredging and lets the 

 bill die in committee feels very com- 

 placent and thinks he has done a big 

 thing for his country. Millions for 

 tribute, but not one cent for defense! 

 Oueer. isn't it? 



