DAMAGE TO FORESTS AND OTHER VEGETATION BY 

 SMOKE, ASH AND FUMES FROM MANUFACTUR- 

 ING PLANTS IN NAUGATUCK VALLEY, 

 CONNECTICUT 



By J. W. TouMKY 

 Vole Fvrest School 



The smoke problem as affecting vegetation is an old one. It has 

 been critically studied abroad, notal)ly by Wislicenus at the Forest 

 Academy at Tharandt. It has also been studied by many investigators 

 in this country. The problem has received more or less attention 

 wherever large quantities of coal are burned and where ash and fumes 

 from smelters, brass works, chemical factories, and other industrial 

 plants emit large quantities of harmful substances into the surrounding 

 air which later comes in contact with vegetation. Conspicuous among 

 American investigations are those made in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, 

 Pa., Des Moines, la., Ducktown, Tenn., and Butte, Mont. There is a 

 voluminous literatvire on the subject and it has come to be generally 

 appreciated that the smoke, ash, and other materials emitted into the 

 air by agencies that use large quantities of coal, minerals, and chem- 

 icals may seriously injure or destroy vegetation completely. The 

 amount of damage is directly proportional to the character and load 

 of deleterious materials emitted into the air and which later reach the 

 vegetation. Even the chimneys of residences and other buildings add 

 to the contamination of the air. The damage, however, is not appar- 

 ent unless the emissions escape in considerable quantities and over 

 considerable periods of time as their effect on vegetation is cumulative. 



Naugatuck Valley throughout its entire length in Connecticut is a 

 great manufacturing center. The valley is narrow and for the most 

 part with wooded slopes at either side. Large manufacturing plants 

 that burn great quantities of coal and use vast quantities of zinc, cop- 

 per, and other metals are located at frequent intervals throughout the 

 valley. Furthermore a railroad threads the valley and adds materially 

 to the atmospheric impurities. 



The consumption of coal and metals began to increase rapidly soon 

 after the outbreak of the European war and probably doubled before 



