50 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



the average equivalent of 400 acre- feet of water in the form of snow 

 after the open areas had l)econie bare, or sutificient to irrigate about 

 650 acres for one month during the summer low-water period. The 

 author therefore concludes that the forest is a very important and 

 very valuable factor in increasing the water available for irrigation. 



It would be interesting to have a more detailed explanation of just 

 how the retarded melting of the snow would benefit irrigation. While 

 a difficult matter to prove experimentally, we would hazard this sug- 

 gestion : the retardation of the melting of the snow gave a longer time 

 for infiltration to the subsoil, which, being less deeply frozen, was more 

 apt to be open for subterranean drainage than open land. Open land 

 is more apt to become incrusted with an impermeable surface stratum 

 which turns the melting snow waters into surface drainage. This re- 

 sulting increase of subterranean drainage is the important factor for 

 irrigation. The snow which fell during the winter and melted in the 

 spring is thus preserved for the water table, to reappear in the summer 

 when there is danger of water shortage. 



In conclusion we would say that we would like to see more work 

 like this. Certainly the present set of data should be amplified by 

 future observations upon the same area ; also, data upon other sections 

 of the country would be welcome. Xo doubt the Forest Service files 

 contain mucli valuable data upon this and similar problems which is 

 doing nobody any good. Not only must such data be published for 

 the perusal of foresters, engineers, and scientists in general, but, what 

 is more important, it should be brought to the attention of the public, 

 who is paying for the maintenance of our Xational Forests. Apropos 

 of the present study, we would suggest that the results, especially as 

 the}' are related to the irrigation problems of the region studied, be 

 made public in the Seattle. Portland, Tacoma. and Spokane press. 



R. H. D. B. 



The Poundations of Xational Prosperity. By Richard T. Ely, 

 Ralph H. Hess, Charles K. Leith, and Thomas Nixon Carver. Xew 

 ^'ork: The Macmillan Co., 1917. 



]\Iisery is not the only thing that makes strange bed-fellows. This 

 volume assembles four papers, originally presented before the Second 

 Pan-American Scientific Congress. Of their four authors, three are 

 professors of political economy, the fourth a professor of geology. 

 The theme is in each case some aspect of conservation. A preface is 

 supplied by Professor Ely. who also contributes the paper entitled 



