RELATION OF FORESTS TO FLOODS. 165 



regard to a survey of the Savannah River, made by order of Con- 

 gress, it is said: 



Reports upon the Sixvaiiiiah Valley and River at Augusta of about the year 1775 

 show the Savannah to have beeu a clear, rapid stream, full of excelleut fish and sub- 

 ject to no sudden or marked changes of height. This was previous to the destruc- 

 tion of the forests and the opening of large tracts of land to the plow. Now the 

 stream has become turbid ; the fish, I am told, have nearly deserted the lower waters, 

 and sudden and marked changes of the water level are the rule. 



Maj. Charles W. Raymond, in a report to the Cliief of Engineers, on the 

 west branch of the Susqnehanna River and the practicability of improv- 

 ing its navigation and of confining its waters, in times of great flood, 

 to the general course of its channel, attributes as the principal cause of 

 the excessive high and low stages of this river the progressive destruc- 

 tion of the forests from the mountain crests and slopes of its watershed, 

 and in discussing the means of protecting the river valley from inunda- 

 tion in the future, says: "Most important of all, such forests as yet 

 remain upon areas not valuable for cultivation, especially near the 

 head waters and the upper slopes of the basin, should be protected." 



The New York Forest Commission, speaking of floods in the Adiron- 

 dack region and the influences of forests in relation to them, say: 



In the uplands of the preserve there are many densely wooded tracts adjacent to 

 others from which the forests have been stripped. The residents agree that in the 

 former Hoods are unknown, while in the latter they are a yearly occurrence. Their 

 appearance was coincident with the disappearance of the woods. It was then 

 noticed that the bridges, which for many years had sufficed to span the streams 

 during heavy rains, were no longer safe, and new ones with longer spans became a 

 necessity. 



They- refer also to the effect of the removal of the forests in the 

 Adirondack watersheds upon the navigation of the canals of the State 

 and the whole system of inland commerce. They say: 



With the clearing away of the forests and the burning of the forest floor came a 

 failure of canal supply that necessitated the building of costly dams and reservoirs to 

 replace the natural ones which the fire and ax had destroyed. The Mohawk River, 

 which for years had fed the Erie Canal at Rome, failed to yield any longer a suffi- 

 cient supply, whereupon the Black River was tapped at Forestport, and its whole 

 volume at that point diverted southward to assist the Mohawk in its work. 



The superintendent of public works of the State has also called 

 I>ub]ic attention to this subject several times. In the report for 1882 

 he says: 



The importance of the preservation of the woods in the Adirondack region in con- 

 nection with the water supply of the canals can not be overestimated. With the 

 continual cutting away of the forests and the burning of the forest floor, the decreas- 

 ing water sujiply lias become painfully apparent. Should this continue, the result 

 on the canals would be disastrous. 



Another interesting and impressive exampleof changes in conditions 

 of water flow is given in connection with the Schuylkill River. During 

 the last sixty or sixty-five years this river has shown a marked diminu- 



