1886.] INFLUENCE OF FORESTS UPON STREAMS. 757 



and by the obstruction which they offer to sweeping winds, they 

 lessen the evaporation which would otherwise carry off speedily 

 from the ground much of the rainfall, while the loose, spongy soil, 

 iormed by the accumulation of their fallen leaves, aljsorl)S the water 

 precipitated from the sky or produced by the melting of the winter's 

 snow, and canses it to flow off gradually into the channels of the 

 streams, instead of being allowed to flood them at once, and produce 

 at times devastating torrents. It is a well-established fact, obvious 

 to all wliose obsarvation reaches through any considerable period of 

 time, that with the clearing away of the forests to secure land for 

 agricultural purposes or to convert them into lumber, the lesser 

 streams have diminished in volume, and the larger streams for this 

 reason have become less navigable, and therefore less available for 

 commerce. Instances might be adduced without difficulty of saw- 

 mills and other wood-working establishments, which have been 

 erected upon streams flowing through or near forests, with the 

 design of using the material near at hand, where the process o£" 

 cutting away the trees has so diminished the amount of water that 

 the requisite power has failed, and the owners have been compelled 

 to build new dams and duplicate their machinery so as to use 

 the diminished water-supply a second time as the only means of 

 continning their business. The manufactures on many of our 

 streams have been obliged thus to duplicate their machinery, or to 

 Ijuild reservoirs at great cost, in which to store up the superabundant 

 water of flood-times for use in times of drought, or to supplement 

 their deficient water-power by the introduction of the auxiliary 

 power of steam. 



Four years ago the State of New Hampshire appointed an able 

 Commission to inquire into the extent to which the forests of the 

 State were l»eing destroyed, and the effect produced by their 

 destruction upon rainfall, ponds, and streams. This Commission, 

 after protracted and extensive inquiry, lias recently made its report, 

 wliich is one of great value, not only for the people of ISTew Hamp- 

 shire, but for those of many other States. For the purpose of 

 ascertaining the facts of the case, the Commission sent out circulars 

 to the town authorities and to many others, especially of the older 

 inhabitants, asking them whether the amount of water in the 

 streams, ponds, and springs in their vicinity had diminished within 

 their remembrance ; and, if so, whether the removal of the woods 

 and forests had anything to do with it. From the replies to these 

 circulars, it is very clear that the destruction of the forests has had 

 serious effects. Among the facts reported, the following may be 

 taken as examples of the general testimony : A small stream in the 

 southern part of the State, in the town of liiclnnond, in 1805, 



3 c 



