HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



Brown was the question of consolidation by 

 the three associations into one body, with its 

 rcsjieetive subdivisions. There was a good 

 deal of ginger in this discussion ; some mem- 

 bers were still strongly opposed to it, some 

 were in favor of it, while still otiiers were un- 

 decided. A full report of the committee 

 selected from all three factions about a year 

 ago for the furtherance of this matter will 

 be found on page 32, in connection with the 

 meeting of the Chicago Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association. The matter was then 

 referred to the board of managers for con- 

 sideration, to give its report at the next regu- 

 lar meeting, which will be the annual meet- 

 ing of the exchange. A nominating commit- 

 tee composed of Harvey S. Hayden, J. L. 

 Lane and Joseph Dion, was appointed to 

 nominate oiBcers for the ensuing year. 



After timely remarks by Edward Scott of 

 the Thomas E. Powe Lumber Company, St. 

 Louis, and W. H. Russe of Russe & Burgess, 

 Inc., Memphis, both guests of the exchange, 

 the meeting adjourned. 



The attendance was as follows: 



Attendance 



O. O. Aslcr, Upham & Agler, Chicaao. 



F. M. Baker, Hardwood Mills Lumber Com- 

 pany, Chica?o. 



S. C. liennett. Hardwood Mills Lumber Com- 

 pany, Chicago. 



F. Ij. Brown, Crandiill & Brown, Chicago, 



G. H. Biilgrin, Qnixley & Bnlgrin Lumber Com- 

 pany. Chicago. 



James C. Cowcn, Schultz Bros. & Cowen. Chi- 

 cago. 



.John J. Cochran, John J. Cochran. Inc.. Chi- 

 cago. 



O. F. Crane. W. B. Crane & Co.. Chicago. 



C. L. Cross. C. L. Cross, Chicago. 



H. B. Darlington. -American Lumberman, Chi- 

 cago. 



Edmond F. Dodge, E. F. Dodge & A. S. Apple- 

 by. Chicago. 



^■illiam X, Eager, Chicago. 



H. R. Foster. Chicago. 



H. H. Gibson. Hardwood Record. Chicago. 



George D. Griffith. George D. Griffith & Co.. 

 Chicago. 



Q. Y. H.Tmilton. Lumber Shippers Stor. & Com. 

 Company. Chicago. 



A. T. Hand. .\. T. Hand & Co., Chicago. 



John T. Hansen. John Hansen Lumber Com- 

 pany, Chicago. 



Harvey S. Hayden, Hayden & Westcott Lum- 

 ber Company. Chicago. 



Herman H. Hettk-r, H. H. Iliiib-r Lumber 

 Company. Chicago. 



E. E. Hooper, Chicago Lumbermen's Associa- 

 tion. Chicago. 



S. P. C. Ho.stlcr. Chicago. 



G. F. Kerns. Kerns-Utlev Lumber Company, 

 Chicago. 



W. D. Kimball, Klmball-Sullivan Lumber Com. 

 pany, Chicago, 



E. H. Klann. Chicago. 



A. C. Knechtel. C. G. Marsh & Co.. Chicago. 



H. H. McLaughlin. McLaughlin Lumber Com- 

 pany. Cblcaeo. 



Mardock MacLeod, Ocnnfo Company, Chicago, 



R. Maisey. Maisey & Dion Lumber Company, 

 ChieaTo. 



C. Y. Marsh. C. T. Marsh & Co.. Chicago. 



F. R. Masten. G. W. Jones Lumber Company, 

 Chicago. 



v. B. McMullen. Fnllerton-Powoll Hardwood 

 Lumber Comnany. Chicago. 



Milton Miller. Christiansen Limiher Company 

 Chicago. 



G. H. Ostrander. D. K. Jeffris & Co.. Cliloago. 

 F. J. Pike. Pike-Dial Lumber Company. Chi- 

 cago. 



Charles C. Robinson. White Bros. Lumber 

 Comnany. Chicago. 



W. n. Russe, Russe & Burgess. Ine. Alemnhls 

 Tenu. ' ■■ 



A. H. Ruth. G. W. Jones Lnmlier Cninpany 

 Chieairo. 



Paul Rchmeehel. Chicago. 



Alfred R. Schmechel. Empire Lumber Com 

 pany. Chlca'-o. 



A. H. Sehnen. Columbia Hardwood Lu-:iber 

 Comnany, Chicago. 



WDIinm C. ,«chreiber, H. H. Hettler Lumber 

 Company. Chicago. 



Edw. Scnft, Thomas E. Powe Lumber Company, 

 St. Louis. JIo. 



A. J. Shutts. Messinger Hardwood Lumber 

 Comnany. Chicago. 



Edw. E, Skeeie, Estabrook-Skeele Lumber Com- 

 pany, Chicago. 



Louis .•v. Smith. Fullerton-Powell Hardwood 

 Lumber Company, Chicago. 



F. P.. Kpi-ague, F. B. Sprague Lumber Com- 

 pany. Chicago. 



L. E. Starr, the Starr Lumber Company. Chi- 

 cago. 



A. .7. Stinson, Pike-Dial Lumber Company, Chi- 

 cago. 



R. D. Sulliyan, Kimball-Sulliyan Lumber Com- 

 pany, Chicago. 



.\. J. Stumpf. Konzen. Stumpt & Schafer Lum- 

 ber Company. Chicago. 



George R. Thamer. Empire Lumber Company, 

 Chicago. 



E. A. Thornton, E. A, Thornton Lumber Com- 

 pany. Chicago. 



J. S. Trainer, Trainer Bros, Lumber Company, 

 Chicago. 



W. E. Trainer, Trainer Bros. Lumber Company, 

 Chicago. 



J. S. Warren, Memphis, Tenn. 



John S. Wyne. Hardwood Record, Chicago, 



F. C. Van Norstrand, United States Lumber & 

 Cotton Company, Chicago, 



Some Recent Phases of the 

 Forestry Problem 



T'ntil with a year most men of culture be- 

 lieved, first, that forests conserve the water- 

 fall; second, that forests tend to prevent 

 freshets; third, that they tend to lengthen 

 the period during which snow lies on the 

 ground unmelted, and in so doing diminish 

 the danger of sudden freshets; fourth, that 

 forests tend to moderate extremes of tem- 

 perature, and, fifth, that forests directly 

 diminish soil washed from the surface. 



Our faith in these time-honored beliefs 

 has, however, bt-en rudely shaken by a 

 labored paper prepared and read by a no 

 less distinguished person than Prof. Willis 

 Moore, chief of the National Weather 

 Bureau. 



Prof. Moore distinctly- takes issue upon 

 each of these conclusions, and either dis- 

 sents entirely from them, or casts serious 

 doubts upon them. 



However startling such an announcement 



may be to our scientitic creed, we may not 

 lightly cast it aside, for utterances from 

 so distinguished a source must command our 

 respect, in spite of the fact that by a 

 strange coincidence, the revelation of our 

 errors was made just at the time when it 

 could be most effectively used as a spur to 

 legislation in our national capital. Whether 

 fair or unfair to do so, it has been urged 

 that this coincidence was not accidental. I 

 do not offer any opinion upon this aspect 

 of the problem, nor, as a matter of fact, 

 have I formed any opinion upon it. 



I do, however, oissent from every one of 

 Mr. Moore's conclusions. 



We may consider our first and second 

 theses as parts of the same proposition, and 

 standing to each other in the relation of 

 supplement and complement. Therefore we 

 affirm that forests do prevent freshets, be- 

 eause they increase the absorbent capacity 



at the surface and by so doing much dimin- 

 ish the "run off" of the rainfall. 



I will endeavor to make this clear by the 

 favts which Mr. Moore absolutely failed to 

 refer to in his paper, and from which one 

 might infer that temperature had no bear 

 iugs upon the volume of water absorbed by 

 the earth. Proportionately I can put my 

 argument iu concrete form. Tn eastern Penn- 

 sylvania the winter of 19ntt set in after a 

 prolonged drought. The soil was so dried 

 out that when plowed it was almost in a 

 dusty condition, as was noted by our farm- 

 ers. Springs and wells, wdiich were regarded 

 as "never failing." refused to flow. It is 

 therefore fair to assume that the soil was 

 in a most receptive condition for a rain or 

 a snowfall. On December 1.3 there was in 

 Chester county (of this state) a phenomenal 

 rainfall of 2.79 inches, and in addition some 

 little snow before Christmas, most of the 

 moisture being speedily absorbed by the 

 thirsty earth. On Christmas day the dry 

 condition of the country was already marked 

 and commented upon, but on that day there 

 came a snow which on the level measured 

 from 16 to 18 inches in depth. This was 

 followed by freezing weather and the clear 

 ground was frozen solidly to a depth of 

 several inches. The new year opened with 

 a thaw. The snow melted rapidly, though 

 not entirely, for it was a large deposit. 



I noted two things. First, that in the 

 forest, under cover of the fallen leaves and 

 the superficial humus, the soil was not 

 frozen at all and that the ground was abso- 

 lutely permeable to water; second, that in 

 the open field, whether the snow remained 

 on the surface or not, the surface was sol- 

 idly frozen and that there was no possibility 

 of the water going into the ground in any 

 great quantity. 



For four days previous to .January 22 it 

 was well above the freezing point, and at 

 the same time there was a considerable rain- 

 fall at Mont Alto in Franklin county, to 

 which point my observations were then 

 transferred. In sjute of the thaw I found 

 the surface of the open ground still frozen 

 and impervious to water, though in the 

 woods less than one hundred feet distant, 

 the ground under the leaf litter was not 

 frozen and I could push a cane down more 

 than a foot into the earth with ease. 



During this thaw and rain, the snow on 

 the open ground, on the mountain plateau 

 (altitude 1,650 feet), was melting and pour- 

 ing off in a flood, overflowing roads and pro- 

 ducing a torrential condition, the like of 

 which I had not seen there before during a 

 residence of six years. The drainage of the 

 forest land was by another stream, which 

 was but slightly swollen, and then only after 

 a longer period of thaw. The comparison 

 here could be easily and effectively made. 



"The breaking-up of the winter" hap- 

 pened on February 27. From the head 

 waters of our great rivers vast volumes of 

 water were poured into the channels. Most 



