29 
of the flood waters of the streams has year by year kept pace with the 
destruction of the wooded areas. This has been notably true of the vol- 
ume of the different tributaries of Indian Kentucky Creek, which has come 
more immediately under my observation. Within the last ten years these 
streams have repeatedly had record-making floods. 
It has been estimated that, upon all the lands of the earth, some 36,- 
000 cubic miles of water fall per year, and that of this amount some 6,000 
cubic miles finds its way into the sea by way of the rivers and streams. 
Thus the annual average run off from the lands is approximately 16 per 
cent. The average “immediate run off’ of such streams as obtain their 
water supply from the hills referred to in this paper must have varied 
enormously with the change from the completely forested condition of the 
past to that of the present. Then, there was a universal leaf mulch, and 
a deep, porous soil, filled with roots and decaying vegetation. As com- 
pared to that, there is now a compact sod, a shallow and very compact 
clay or a rock surface. The average annual “immediate run off” from 
these streams today is at least 50 per cent greater than that from the 
same regions under the forested conditions of the past. 
One of the most apparent consequences of the greatly increased “im- 
mediate run off’ is the gradual lowering of the ground water level in all 
portions of the State and especially among the hills. As the ground water 
level is lowered the flow of springs and of wells is stopped, or very much 
reduced, in time of drouth. At no time in the history of southern Indiana 
and northern Kentucky have springs and wells so completely failed as has 
occurred during the season just past. Water for family use and for stock 
has in hundreds of instances, and during many weeks, been obtained from 
distances of one or two miles. The water supply in villages and small 
towns became very limited or gave out entirely. In many parts of the 
State, even at a distance from those portions having a rough topography, 
wells are being driven to greater and greater depths in the endeavor to 
obtain a permanent water supply for mills and factories, as well as for 
farm animals. These unfortunate conditions may properly be attributed 
in large part to the greater immediate run off of the rainfall resulting from 
deforested conditions. 
That deforestation in general, and in the regions referred to in this 
paper in particular, causes a decrease in the total precipitation can hardly 
be doubted. The problem of the influence of forests on precipitation is 
one not easily solved, and is one which has long troubled investigators. 
