234 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



elsewhere reviewed this paper and 

 pointed out the inconsistencies, contra- 

 dictions, and purely arbitrary state- 

 ments, presented without demonstration, 

 which it contains, I will not further re- 

 fer to it, but I will quote from Colonel 

 Chittenden's report on reservoir sites 

 in the arid regions, in which he says : 



"The forests ought unquestionably to 

 be preserved and the government is the 

 proper agency to do it ; but the prin- 

 cipal arguments therefor apply with ac- 

 centuated force to the construction of 

 reservoirs/' 



Professor Moore says "army and 

 civilian engineers and meteorologists 

 generally believe that the broken, culti- 

 vated, permeable soil is equally as good 

 a conserver of the rainfall as the forest 

 area itself." Here again Professor 

 Moore obscures the point of this sub- 

 ject by talking about cultivated areas, 

 although he knows perfectly well that 

 his paper would be used as an argu- 

 ment against the preservation of for- 

 ests on the steep slopes not suitable for 

 cultivation. I protest against such mis- 

 representations in the discussion of an 

 important measure. As a matter of 

 fact, the only references in the reports 

 of the Chief of Engineers to this sub- 

 ject which I have been able to find, are 

 the following : 



In the report for 1875, Vol. 2, page 

 172, reference is made to the paper of 

 Wex, a prominent Austrian engineer, 

 who wrote an elaborate argument in 

 favor of the proposition that forests 

 exercise an important regulative influ- 

 ence, and the statement is made by S. T. 

 Abert, United States Assistant Engi- 

 neer : 



"This decrease is assigned to the dev- 

 astation of the forests and the conse- 

 quent decrease of atmospheric moisture 

 a cause often assigned but not yet 

 demonstrated. But whatever 



may be the causes operating, there can 

 be little doubt as to the effect of the 

 sediment brought down by the annual 

 rainfloods." 



On page 510 of the same report, 

 Maj. Charles R. Suter, then in charge 

 of the improvements on the Mississippi 



River, says : "The influx of sand from 

 above must first be stopped ; then the 

 river will have a chance to clear itself, 

 and as its width contracts the shores can 

 be revetted to prevent any further inju- 

 rious changes." 



In the report for 1879, page 1211, 

 Maj. Charles O. Allen says: "The 

 weight of evidence collected by va- 

 rious writers upon the subject of rain- 

 fall seems to indicate that reforesting 

 of extensive areas of country is fol- 

 lowed by a more equable distribution of 

 the rainfall throughout the year." 



In the same report, page 1373, Assist- 

 ant Engineer T. P. Roberts says : "The 

 clearing of forest lands, I believe, is 

 followed by greater fluctuations in our 

 rivers. I think the storm-waters un- 

 doubtedly reach the streams more rap- 

 idly now than formerly." 



And in the report for 1891, page 

 1107, Maj. Charles W. Raymond, one 

 of the most scholarly and capable of- 

 ficers who has ever been connected with 

 the corps, makes the following forcible 

 statement, which it may be well to quote 

 in full : 



CAUSES WHICH INCREASE THE DESTRUCTIVE 

 EFFECT OF FLOODS 



Such causes may be considered under the 

 three following heads : 



1. Destruction of forests and cultivation 

 of land. 



2. Artificial constructions, such as bridges 

 and dams. 



3. Collection of logs, lumber, and ice in 

 the stream and upon its banks. 



I. The destruction of forests from the 

 mountain crests and slopes of a watershed 

 is undoubtedly the principal cause of the 

 increase of the average magnitude of floods* 

 The evidence collected during the last twenty- 

 five years establishing this conclusion is well- 

 nigh overwhelming, and it is verified by re- 

 peated observations, not only in the moun- 

 tains of Europe, but also in our own land. 

 By the removal of the forests from the 

 mountain slopes the ground is robbed of 

 its protecting covering of roots, moss, leaves, 

 and porous soil, which forms the forest floor 

 and serves as a natural storage reservoir, 

 holding back the water of rainfall and melt- 

 ing snow, and compelling it to descend slowly 

 to the channels. By the subsequent cultiva- 

 tion of the lands, ditches and drains are made 

 to facilitate the more rapid discharge from 



