Floods and the Forest 91 



soft forest floor. Some of this water the trees 

 drink, but most of it goes deep down into the 

 earth. There it collects, and forms an under- 

 ground pool or watercourse. This may flow along, 

 much as a stream on the surface does, for sev- 

 eral days or weeks before it finally comes out of 

 some hillside or ravine as a spring of pure, cold 

 water. 



In the mountain springs and streams many of 

 our great rivers have their sources. When these 

 highlands are covered with forest growth, the 

 flow of water is even and steady throughout the 

 year. Every spring and fall, when there are 

 heavy rains, the flow is lower, and in times of 

 little rainfall it is higher, than in regions where 

 there are no trees. The surface soil is held in 

 place, and the water is clear and cold the year 

 round. The snows of winter melt slowly, and the 

 spring rains fall very softly here. The water 

 soaks into the forest floor, and Nature stores it 

 up to feed her lakes and rivers. 



But when the woods are burned or cut away, 

 the soil becomes hard and bare, and when rain 

 falls, it does not soak in at all. On the hillsides 

 there are no trees to protect the earth and bind 



