752 Forestry Quarterly 



temperature conditions between forest and open land may alter 

 the character of the precipitation, that is from rain to snow or 

 vice versa. In this connection there has recently been published a 

 paper claiming a different depth of snow fall for forested areas 

 from that for open ground; although as the effects of ground 

 temperature, ground moisture and wind are to be considered, the 

 conclusions of the paper are not yet definite. It has also been 

 claimed that land under cultivation permits higher evaporation 

 from the soil, thus extending the area of condensation, although 

 this would need to cover a large area to be appreciable. 



"It is true that a former high official of the Weather Bureau 

 strongly stated that deforestation did not affect the run-off, but 

 I do not accept this as a general statement. Records of stream 

 flow both maximum and minimum, the visible signs of erosion on 

 bare ground, the slow melting of snow in shaded areas, the reduc- 

 tion of intensity offered by leaves and branches during severe 

 downpours, the greater porosity of forest hirnius and the fact 

 that it does not freeze deep, and the more uneven and obstructed 

 floor of the forest as compared to bare hill or field, cannot fail to 

 have the effect of stabilizing run-off, and this view is generally 

 shared by those who have studied the records and conditions, 

 especially in this country where deforestation generally clears the 

 ground of aU growth." 



Variations in Precipitation as Affecting Water Works Engineering. Reprint 

 from the Journal of the American Water Works Association, vol. 3, no. 1. 

 March, 1916, pp. 103. 



MENSURATION, FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT 



The most extensive and important in- 

 Assorttmnt vestigation by Flury on the assortments or 



Tables grade relations in spurce, fir and beech is of 



special interest for the methods of investiga- 

 tion. A discussion of the principles and systems of grading in 

 vogue in Switzerland, Germany and France is followed by an 

 analysis of grade or size relations in the single stem, then of whole 

 stands in general, and finally of pure, even-aged, normally stocked 

 stands. Twenty tables and three graphic illustrations are the 

 result of the measurements and bring the basis for this discussion. 

 The object of assortment, or graded yield tables, is two-fold, 



