FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 325 



would pay them individually to have a larger part of their farms 

 timbered, or to improve the character of their woodland? 



It is believed that the present condition of the average wood lot, 

 in this region is such that the owners are now suffering an actual 

 loss of a considerable part of their value, and that the area now 

 wooded might often be extended with a resulting clear profit to the 

 farm. It is further believed that this added return may be secured 

 by anyone of ordinary intelligence and enterprise, without expert 

 assistance and without the outlay of capital or any expenditure 

 other than that of a little time and forethought. 



In the case of the forested area again the controlling principle 

 must be the advantage of the individual owner. It is not proposed 

 to turn good farm land into woods, with the certain result of a net 

 loss on the crop. But there is much land naturally better adapted 

 for woodland than for agriculture. In many cases this now supports 

 a sparse and inferior growth of timber, or none at all. A little care 

 on the part of the owner would result in his having eventually a 

 much more productive and valuable wood lot, and would at the same 

 time help to equalize the stream flow, and so would benefit the 

 whole region. (F. S. B. 44.) 



Forests and Snow in the West. The intimate connection be- 

 tween the melting snows of the mountains and the mountain for- 

 ests and the agricultural prosperity of Colorado, and this relation 

 may be extended to the other western States dependent for irriga- 

 tion on the melting snows, is too evident to those acquainted with 

 conditions to need discussion, for most of the water which carries 

 fertility to the fields and farms comes from the white-capped moun- 

 tains. It is not believed that the forests materially affect the rain- 

 fall. Their important function is in saving the snow from prema- 

 ture melting and the effect of the winds which increase the evapora- 

 tion. The action of the forests in protecting the snow from rapid 

 melting not only allows a gradual distribution of water for irriga- 

 tion purposes during the growing season, but also protects the agri- 

 cultural interests from sudden, destructive floods. The loss of the 

 forest cover means more violent fluctuation during the day, greater 

 difficulty in regulating the headgates and keeping a uniform flow in 

 ditches and hence an additional difficulty in the economic distribu- 

 tion of water. Also the water runs off sooner, hence the streams 

 drop earlier in the summer and on account of the lessening of the 

 springs, the smaller is the water flow. The preservation of the for- 

 est is an absolute necessity for the interest of irrigated agriculture. 

 (Colo. Ex. St. Bui. 55.) 



Comparison of Run-Off from Forested and Nonforested Areas. 

 There are so many complex conditions influencing the flow of 

 streams that it is extremely difficult to determine the effect of forests 

 on run-off by the comparison of the discharge of streams on for- 

 ested and nonforested catchment areas. It is believed by many that 

 stream flow is so largely influenced by the amount, intensity, and 

 character of the precipitation, the configuration and area of the 

 catchment basin, the character of the absorbing medium and the 



