166 rORfeST INFLUENCES. 



tion iu its minimum flow. In 1816 this flow was estimated at 500,000,- 

 000 gallons per day; in 1S25, at 440,000,000: in 1867, at 400,000,000, and 

 in 1874, at 245,000,000. In regard to tbis a commission of engineers 

 say in their report in 1875: 



This remarkable decrease, uot being accompanied by any great change iu the 

 rainfall, nor probably in the total annnal discharge of the river, is no doubt largely 

 due to the destruction of the forests in the drainage area, whereby the conservative 

 action of the woodland has been lost, and the rainfall is permitted to descend rap- 

 idly to the bed and pass off in a succession of freshets. 



hi the year 1881 the State of New Hampshire established a forest 

 commission, wlio were instructed to inquire, among other matters re- 

 lating to the forests, into "the effect, if any, produced by the destruc- 

 tion of our forests upon onr rainfall, and consequently upon our ponds 

 and streams." In theii- report, made in 1885, the commission presented 

 a summary of the large number of rej^lies to their inquiries. These 

 replies came from all parts of the State. From the summary the fol- 

 lowing citations are made: 



Beginning witii the southern portion of the State, and with the town of Rich- 

 mond, attention is called to a small stream there, which in 1865 furnished sufficient 

 power for four sawniill« nearly all the year, but which began to dry up with the 

 more rapid reinuvil •)<' the timber occasioned by the introduction of steam as au 

 auxiliary power, 'ilie water and the woods have disappeare<l together, and the 

 same is the case in other ))(>rtions of the town. 



In Fitzwilliani and Rindge the same results have been reached all the more rap- 

 idly because of the nearer proximity of these towns to a market. Well-known 

 trout streams, once abundantly stocked with fish, are now dry half of the year, 

 and the treeless ground and naked rocks along their banks and about their sources 

 are considered a sufficient explanation. 



The chairman of the board of selectmen in Henuiker, who has given much atten- 

 tion to the subject, is confident that the water iu the Coutocook River has decreased 

 fully one-third within even twenty years, and that the triltntaries have fallen otf 

 still more, many being nearly dry in the summer. During this period $75,000 worth 

 of timber has been cut within this one town. In the surrounding towns, also, the 

 timber has disappeared Avith equal rapidity, and the water supply has seriously 

 decreased. 



The report from Bow, which covers a period of fitty years, within which most of 

 the timber has been cut otf, and that from Hoiikinton, which covers a period of 

 sixty years, both tell the same story of naked hillsides and diminished streams. 



At Hanover the Connecticut River for many years has been decreasing in volume, 

 aud with increasing rapidity the timber from its head waters has beeu tloatiug by. 



In Canaan sixty-five years ago there were nine or more mills of ditterent kinds; 

 abundant water power all the year around; no thought of reservoirs or double 

 dams, or precautious against drought. Canaan street, now covered with a firm, dry 

 sod, was laid out through a swamp, impassable but for the humuiocks and fallen 

 trees, while dense forests of giant trees covered the hills. The writer who fur- 

 nishes the above facts, a native of the place, returning after an absence of thirty 

 years, found the hills and rocks bare, the springs choked up, and the mills obliged 

 to resort to steam power or lie idle. 



The great mountain region of the State lies in contiguons parts of the conuties 

 of Grafton, Carroll, and Coos. The nuuibeiless streams originating in this region, 

 protected by the primitive forest, might be thought to be beyond any disturbing 

 causes, but such is not the case. The town of Littleton depends upon the Ammo- 



