492 



SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



both property and life. On the steep hillsides, the soil may 

 be washed away down to the solid rock, thus making it im- 

 possible for forests to grow there again. 



In almost every country there are examples of this kind 

 where millions of dollars' worth of property have been de- 

 stroyed by floods owing to the careless removal of forests. 

 In our own country, in the state of North Carolina, land 

 which was formerly worth $125 an acre is now useless, owing 



FIG. 194. A park, a place where people may enjoy the outdoors. 



to gullies and deposits of gravel due to floods. In the San 

 Bernardino Mountains in California, torrents have been 

 able to carry stones and sand into the orange groves of the 

 San Gabriel valley, because of the destruction of forests on 

 the mountains by fires and grazing. 



Recreation forests. The recreation forest serves an im- 

 portant purpose as a source of pleasure. Many travelers 

 and campers visit the national parks and forests each sum- 

 mer as a means of recreation, and the smaller parks found in 

 cities and towns are of great value to the people living near. 



