36 



porte, Pulaski, White, Tippecanoe and Warren. Some of this is now cov- 

 ered with young forests that will eventually add much to the forest re- 

 sources of the State. 



An examination of the topography of the State shows that the cleared 

 lands include the headwaters of our principal rivers and streams. The 

 entire basin of the Wabash and its tributaries has been more or less 

 denuded, or at least does not contain any considerable area of timber land. 

 The basins of a few small streams, like the Blue and Pigeon Rivers and a 

 part of White River, are still wooded and the influence of the remaining 

 tracts here, as elsewhere, is manifest in the less conspicuous changes in 

 the streams so protected. Truly the problem of securing the proper main- 

 tenance and control of the forests of the State is grave and important. 



In order to appreciate fully the real value of our forests to our State 

 let us consider their general influence upon some of our natural condi- 

 tions and industries affecting the general prosperity of our commonwealth. 



One of the most important assertions made l)y those who advocate 

 rational forestry management is that the forests exercise a very large in- 

 fluence on our climate and rainfall. So great have been the claims of these 

 zealous advocates that I sometimes feel that the whole cause of forest 

 care is seriously injured by claims for which no convincing proof is 

 forthcoming and which do not appeal to educated people accustomed to 

 think for themselves. In fact, too often scientific men have indulged in 

 pleasant contemplations on this subject and made statements that were 

 not founded on suflicient data to satisfy a man who did not believe things 

 because he wished them to be so. For the thorough examination of this 

 problem we must have accm-ate data of climatic conditions for many years 

 and in connection with these careful records of forestry changes for the 

 same territory. In the study of these it should be kept in mind tliat gen- 

 »eral climatic variations occur in all countries even where no changes have 

 been made in forestry matters and it accordingly becomes difficult to de- 

 termine the exact relation of the forest changes to climatic variations in 

 other counti'ies where marked changes have taken place in the forests. 

 Notwithstanding the fact that different climatologists maintain exactly op- 

 posite views regarding forest influences on the climate, there are certain 

 facts that are hardly controvertible. It is doubtful if the forest tract 

 influences very largely the climatic coaiditions or total rainfall of a coiui- 

 try except in a very few favorably located regions, but the important 

 thing for us to consider is the value of Indiana forests to our own com- 



