16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



continue so with an average quota of logs, the loss in operating 

 days will have a very serious effect on the total hardwood pro- 

 duction in southern hardwood territory. 



It is probable then that the next few weeks or months will see 

 hardwood producing plants either forcing drying or shipping 

 partly dried stock. This state of affairs even now prevails in some 

 items, and with the new conditions it will be the rule rather than 

 the exception. 



Spring has come all over the country, and with it the usual build- 

 ing activity, which this year seems to be abnormal. 



Next to Nature 



THE COVEE PICTUEE which illustrates this issue of Hard- 

 wood Eecobd has in it the call of the wild. During the shut-in 

 months of the winter the town and the city are quite satisfactory, 

 but when the shortening noontime shadows announce that summer 

 is on the way and due to arrive within a few weeks, the woods are 

 filled with temfitations which are hard to resist. 



The picture represents a trout stream in the basin of the Middle 

 prong of the East fork of Little River, Sevier County, Ten- 

 nessee. The scene is included in the holdings of the Little Eiver 

 Lumber Company of Townsend, Tenn. It lies near the center of 

 a tract of 85,000 acres which the government recently purchased 

 for incorporation in the series of national forests which will ulti- 

 mately include most of the elevated watersheds of the southern 

 Appalachian ranges. The government's purpose is to save and 

 restore, by checking forest fires, and giving nature a chance to 

 bring back the forest growth which has been partly or totally 

 destroyed over considerable areas. There is no need of any 

 restoration in the choice nook shown in the picture. The work of 

 nature has not been disturbed in that place, but matiy other places 

 have not been so fortunate. 



The scene is typical of many localities among the high moun- 

 tains. It is a hardwood forest, rich, rugged and restful. The largest 

 tree is a veteran j'ellow poplar, its roots among the rocks, and its 

 crown not visible in the picture, but it may be taken for granted 

 that its limbs expand in the sunlight above the tops of the trees 

 with which it is associated. The leaning tree which hangs over the 

 waterfall appears to be a birch, a tree which flourishes very well in 

 the shade. Although it is not possible to identify in the picture 

 all the trees in sight, it is not improbable that twenty or thirty 

 kinds are visible in that small area — a larger number of species 

 than grow naturally in the whole continent of Europe. 



The streams that flow down those mountain slopes are perennial. 

 They are fed by springs which never run dry. Rains are copious, 

 and between showers the skies are blue, the air is fresh and nature 

 is seen at her best. 



Flood Problems 



THE RECENT DESTEUCTIVE HIGH WATEES have renewed 

 the agitation for measures to prevent floods, but it is much 

 easier to agitate than to devise practical measures on a scale large 

 enough to accomplish the desired results. Whenever six inches of 

 rain falls in thirty-six hours over several thousand square miles, 

 there will be a flood, and it is beyond man's power wholly to pre- 

 vent it. The amount of water is so great that no artificial means 

 can be devised for taking care of it, and rivers will overflow. 

 However, it is possible to do something to help the situation. If 

 levees had not been built along the lower Mississippi river, much 

 of the fertile land along that stream would be practically useless. 

 It is, therefore, apparent that it is possible to do something, and 

 the question now is, how much can be done. 



Three methods of handling floods are advocated. First, improve 

 forest conditions on the upper slopes of mountains; second, 

 strengthen levees and clear channels in the lower courses of 

 streams; third, store storm water in enormous reservoirs, thus 

 holding it back until the crest of the flood has passed. Each one 

 of these methods has its limitations. Land of great value for 

 agriculture cannot be turned back into forests; the construction of 

 reservoirs of large size must necessarily take broad valleys, most 



of which are already occupied by railroads, towns and cities; and 

 there is a limit beyond which levee building cannot go. All that 

 can be done by man 's ingenuity is to work within the limits set 

 by circumstances. 



The worst part of the flood occurred in Ohio and Indiana, where 

 most of the deforesting was done long ago. Conditions in that 

 respect have not greatly changed in recent decades, and for that 

 reason the flood cannot be accounted for by forest destruction in 

 late years. Had the flood occurred in the southern Appalachian 

 region, deforestation of mountain slopes would have been charged 

 directly with the responsibility. 



The three methods of flood prevention can be combined. Even in 

 Ohio and Indiana a good many hillsides ought to be growing trees 

 instead of corn. The forest forms a mass of litter, roots and loose 

 soil, which holds back for a time a considerable part of sudden or 

 unusual rainfall. A little of the flood's crest could be taken off in 

 that way. Eeservoirs in which much of the sudden runoff may be 

 caught can be built. In case of moderate freshets, these alone 

 might suflSce to prevent floods, while in time of extraordinary 

 rain a few feet might be taken off the crest in the lower streams. 

 A foot or two might save millions of dollars. Eeservoirs of that 

 kind should be built near the sources of tributary streams, and 

 seldom on the main rivers. This has been done in Europe, par- 

 ticularly in France, and while those countries still have floods, 

 conditions would be much worse but for the reservoirs. 



There will now be much discussion of the whole matter. It is 

 understood that bills are being prepared for the consideration of 

 Congress. The real work, in the way of flood prevention, must be 

 done in accordance with plans drawn by engineers, but public 

 approval must stand back of the movement or little will come of 

 it. One of the questions which is already being discussed is 

 whether the government or the states should take charge of the 

 work. There might be a combination, and probably will be. If 

 the building of reservoirs becomes part of the plan, the develop- 

 ment of electricity by the stored water will be important. It 

 would be of enormous value near manuacturing centers, and it has 

 not yet been settled whether the states in which reservoirs lie, or 

 the general government should regulate the sale and use of this 

 power. 



Forestry Work of the Pennsylvania Company 



ABOUT FIVE MILLION TREES, all told, have been planted by 

 the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company for forestry purposes. 

 Of this number about one-half are now living. The earliest plant- 

 ings were of black or yellow locust and it was confidently expected 

 that durable ties and posts could be produced in a comparatively 

 short time. Hopes were blighted, however, by the appearance of 

 the locust borers, which completely riddled the trees with their 

 destructive galleries. A section of the tree trunk attacked by 

 the borers resembles nothing so much as a pile invested with the 

 destructive toredo. 



The company has a regular forestry department in connection 

 with the work of timber inspection and timber treating. It main- 

 tains a nursery where trees are grown from seed not only for 

 forest planting but also for ornamental purposes. Most of the 

 company 's own land suitable to restocking has been planted and 

 considerable attention is now being devoted to reforesting water- 

 sheds of various municipal water supplies in which the road is 

 interested. 



About seventy per cent of the trees now being planted are hard- 

 woods. The principal species is red oak, since this is a tree which 

 makes rapid growth even on rather poor soil and produces timber 

 desirable for ties after preservative treatment. On some of the 

 better sites black walnut is being tried while along streams and 

 coves some ash is being introduced. 



The company formerly had a considerable mileage of Osage 

 orange or bodark (bois d 'arc) hedgerows along portions of its 

 right-of-way. It was discovered, however, that tree is a host for 

 the San Jose scale, which has proved so destructive to orchard 

 trees. As a result the hedgerows are being removed at the rate 



