16 FOREST LANDS FOE THE PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS. 



However, there is just one point in connection with that to which 

 I wish to call your attention. It is this, that this region is one in 

 which the conditions are especially critical. In the northeastern part 

 of the United States and I am not talking against the White Moun- 

 tain reserve, for I believe in it in the northeastern part of the United 

 States, or in the northern part of the United States, below the sur- 

 face there is a sand and gravel which makes a porous stratum which 

 carries water. In this southeastern part of the United States the 

 rocks have not disintegrated and are nonporous; there is clay. The 

 water does not readily find its way into them, and the result is that it 

 gathers upon the surface very readily and very easily into streams of 

 considerable power, and is therefore' especially potent in this matter 

 of erosion. Every one of you who is at all familiar with the region 

 in the southeastern part of the United States must have appreciated 

 how much more extensive the erosion is in that region, even on slopes 

 of moderate steepness, than it is in these other regions in which the 

 conditions are less crucial, and therefore I wish to urge that in this 

 particular the southern Appalachian forest region has an exceptional 

 demand for attention. I unhesitatingly assert that somehow, for the 

 good of the States and the nation as a whole, it is absolutely necessary 

 to preserve the protective covering of vegetation on this upland area 

 of the southeastern part of the United States. But that I understand 

 to be conceded, and therefore I shall not dwell upon it. So that the 

 question comes back, How can this great task be accomplished ? Why 

 should the Government undertake a portion of its accomplishment ? 



In the first place, it is a tremendous task ; a task of such magnitude 

 that to properly accomplish it will require, it seems to me, the joint 

 efforts of the nation, of the States, and of the citizens. But if it is 

 merely a local interest, why should the nation participate? And that, 

 of course, is the crucial question, from your point of view. It seems 

 to me there are two very good reasons, one of which has been sug- 

 gested to me since I came into this room, why the nation ought to par- 

 ticipate, why they will find it economical to participate in this mat- 

 ter. In the first place, the nation is taking up the question of 

 improving its waterways, to maintain a uniform and equable flow. 

 There is talk of spending not five millions, or ten millions, but 

 scores of millions of dollars in the improvement of inland water- 

 ways. This vast expenditure which is necessary can be reduced, in 

 my judgment, and I think if time were sufficient it could be proved 

 that it could be reduced if the problem is studied at the head in- 

 stead of the foot ; that is, if the forests are preserved, if the covering 

 vegetation is preserved, a uniform and equable flow of the streams 

 is produced. 



The question may be asked, Is it a fact that in consequence of the 

 removal of the forests floods have increased ? Does the water go down 

 more rapidly at one time and less rapidly at another in consequence 

 of the removal of the forests ? In reference to the Tennessee River, 

 one of the long streams which heads in this region, that is unquestion- 

 ably true. The most careful investigation which has ever been made 

 in this country upon the relation of forest covering to stream flow 

 has been made by Mr. Leighton of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey during this past summer. This investigation has taken into ac- 

 count not only the number of floods during the past twelve years 

 and the previous twelve years, but the number of flood-producing 



