Influknce ok Forksts ox Natuhal NNatiok-Slpply. 119 



of '"limpid wjit'ei"." He also say** that most foresters admit that 

 mountain forests generally assist the foi-mation of springs.* 



Two springs on the slopes of Table Mountain, above the Molteno 

 Keservoir, were acnpiired by the Capetown Municipality some years 

 ago, and the discharge gaugeil : but after the poplars and bushes 

 around the springs had been (lestroyed by fire the yield diminished. 

 The follt»wing cases are given by Marsh : The spring of Combefoulat, 

 in the Commune of Seleate, was well known as one of the best in the 

 countrv ; it was remarkably abundant, and sutficient, in spite of the 

 se\erest droughts, to supply all the fountains of the town ; but as soon 

 as considerable forests were felled in Combe de Pre Martin and in the 

 \ alley of Combefoulat, the famous spring which lies below these woods 

 has become a mere thread of water, and disappears altogether at times 

 of drought. The spring of Varieux, which formerly supplied the castle 

 of Pruntrut, lost more than half its water after the clearing of Varieux 

 and Rougeols. These woods have been replanted, the young trees ai-e 

 well grown, and with the woods the waters of the spring have re- 

 turned. The Dog Spring, between Pruntrut and Bressancourt, has 

 entirely vanished since the suri'oundirig forest grounds were brought 

 under cultivation. The Wolf Spring, in the Commune of Soubey, fur- 

 nishes a remarkable example of the influence of woods upon fountains. 

 .\ few years ago the spring did not exist. At the place whore it now 

 rises a small thread of water was observed after very long rain, but 

 the stream disappeared after the rain. The spot is in the middle of a 

 very steep pasture, inclining to the south. Eighty years ago the owner 

 of the land, perceiving that young firs were shooting up in the higher 

 part of it, determined to let them grow, and they soon formed a 

 flourishing gro^•e. As soon as the}' were well grown a fine spring- 

 appeared ill place of the occasional rill, and furnished abundant water 

 in the longest drought. For forty or fifty years this spring was con- 

 sidered the best in the Clos du Doiibs. A few years ago the grove 

 was felled, and the ground turned again into a pasture. The spring 

 disappearefl with the wood, and is now again as dry as it was ninety 

 years ago. Hummel also menti<»ns a striking instance at Heilbronn. 

 The woods on the hills sunounding the town are cut in regular 

 succession every twentieth year. As the annual cuttings approach 

 a certain point the springs yield less water, some of them none at 

 all ; but as the young growth shoots up, they flow more and more 

 freely, and at length bubl)le up again in all their original abundance. 



In South Africa several cases have been noticed where streams 

 have dried up or diminished after clearance, and have again in- 

 creased in strength after the restoration of the forest, f Dr. Moffat, 

 the famous missionary, refers to the ruthless destruction of trees 

 and the -4)urning of grass by the natives, and attributes to this 

 cause not only a succession of dry seasons, but the diminution of 



* TraiU de Si/lviciiltio-e, l>y P. Mouillefert, p. lo. 



t National Foreats, ]»v D. V.. Hntcliius. (';i|ie Ajivicultural l)e|tartiuent, 

 Pamphlet No. -23, 189S. 



