pensive to import all we need. Wood serves so many 

 purposes that it is claimed to be the most useful of all 

 natural products excepting food. Iron is looked upon 

 as the most useful metal. Wood is not metal, but in 

 its usefulness it may be placed above iron. Experi- 

 ments have shown that in tensile strength hickory 

 exceeds iron and steel of the same length and weight. 

 It also stands higher temperatures without warping. 

 Wood is used in building ships, railroads, freight 

 cars and roads. It is used in making furniture, 

 wagons, carriages and machinery. It is used in car- 

 pentering, mining, for making paper, alcohol, tar, 

 turpentine, medicines, telephone poles and many other 

 things too numerous to mention. 



Many of our streams and springs would dry up if 

 the forests were all cut down because trees retain the 

 water in the soil as a constant source of supply to 

 streams and springs. The thick matting of dead 

 leaves and branches, which covers all forest areas, 

 prevents rapid evaporation and enables the water 

 which the ground receives from rain and melting snow 

 to flow out gradually through springs and rivulets on 

 streams. As long as forests remain the flow of rivers 

 is comparatively equal throughout the year, but as 

 soon as the trees are cut away the rapid evaporation 

 from the soil causes the streams and springs to be- 

 come dry or nearly so during certain months of the 

 year. The hardness of the soil because of its dryness 

 causes water from heavy rains to run off rapidly into 

 the valleys. Thus during the spring and in case 

 of heavy rains in the summer freshets are common 

 along all rivers from whose sources forests have been 



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