EFFECT ON STREAMS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 167 



noosnc foi' its water power, but three of its oldest citizens testify that this power 

 has diminished one third within lifty or sixty years. The mountain forests during 

 this same period have been encroached upon as never before, and it is not surpris- 

 ing that so ooiiimonly these two facts are associated as cause and consequence. 



Coos County ct)ntains more of the first growth of timber than any other portion 

 of tlie State. In tlie midst of this region are the sources of the Connecticut, An- 

 droscoggin, Saco, and tlieir many tributaries, and a diminished water supply at 

 this point is felt throughout the course of these important streams. The report 

 from .Jefferson is that the older inhabitants agree that the streams are smaller than 

 formerly. An intelligent observer at Berlin, on the Androscoggin River, maizes the 

 following important statements, covering a period of twenty-six years. Within a 

 radius of 4 miles from his residence are eight streams or brooks and two ponds, and 

 the water in each during the above period has materially diminished. As an illus- 

 tration of the connection between the removal of the woods and this diminished 

 supply, he adds that '* six years ago he supplied his stock with water from what was 

 then an unfailing brook, by means of an aqueduct which furnished 300 gallons per 

 hour. Now that the trees along the stream have been destroyed by the woodman's 

 ax and by forest iires, his water supply is cut short in summer by drought and in 

 winter by frost. Hundreds of acres of timber have been cleared within these six 

 years in the s.ame vicinity." 



At Lancaster, the county seat, on the Connecticut river, an old resi- 

 dent reports — 



an alarming decrease in the water of the streams and springs during the past sixty 

 years, and especially during the last twenty-five years, within which period the 

 smaller timber also has been removed. Israel's River in his boyhood was a large 

 mill stream 8 or 10 rods wide, with sufficient water to carry a very large amount of 

 machinery the year round. Now it is an insignificant stream, with, from May to 

 November, not more than half the water it had fifty years ago, and not more than 

 two-thirds there was twenty-five years ago. Other streams have suffered in the 

 same way, and the springs have, if possible, suffered more than the streams. Many, 

 once thought to be never-failing, are now for long periods dry. That the cutting 

 oft' the forests accounts very largely for this change he considers as sure as that 

 ertect follows cause, and the result is hastened by the reckless methods in use. In- 

 stead of cutting timber that is matured, everything is cut to the size of 5 or 6 inches 

 in diameter, and what remains is cut into firewood or burned at once, leaving a 

 dreary waste. 



In conclusion the commissioners say: 



While the statements given above prove beyond doubt the steady diminution of 

 our water su))ply, and show what is the commonly received explanation of this 

 state of things, a few of the towns heard from, and these mainly in the southern 

 l>art of the State, report no very marked variation in the amount of water in ponds 

 and streams for a considerable term of years, and an increase rather than a diminu- 

 tion in the amount of woodland. Much of this woodland, however, is the young 

 growth, brush wood only, which can not for years protect the ground from the dry- 

 ing effects of sun and wind, as did tlie older woods; and, besides, from its relatively 

 greater amount of foliage, evaporation proceeds all the more rapidly. Thai our 

 wooded districts here and there are on the increase can not, however, alter the force 

 of the facts which confirm the nu)re commonly received oi)inion as to the general 

 ■condition of things within our limits. If in any instances the decrease in water 

 power has been checked or averted, it is all the more important to know how the 

 result has been reached, that the same means may be used elsewhere. In every case 

 this means has been connected with the jireservatitm or restoration of the forests. 



On one point there is no division of opinion. It is not iu the open ground, but be- 



