350 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



it was stopped by a root or a stone. 

 This was, no doubt, mainly due to the 

 fact that the leaves had retained the 

 heat i if the earth, as our clothing re- 

 tains the heat of the body. It is prob- 

 able, also, that some heat was evolved 

 by the process of decay in the lower 

 portion of the bed of leaves. On the 

 open ground, whether the snow still re- 

 mained or had drifted away, the resist- 

 ance to the thrust of the cane was 

 solid, almost as if I had struck a rock. 

 To this there was but one exception, 

 where there was an unusually dense 

 covering of long grass. Under a matted 

 surface of this kind 1 could still thrust 

 my cane into the ground of an open 

 field. 



It requires no argument to prove that 

 in the dry, unfrozen soil of the foresr 

 the water could and did penetrate. It 

 is equally obvious that it did not pene- 

 trate the frozen surface of the field. 

 Had the thaw continued, there is no 

 doubt we should have had a consider- 

 able rise in our streams, but on January 

 4 the mean temperature fell to ten de- 

 grees. Observations made on the morn- 

 ing of the 5th showed that where there 

 was more water than was taken up by 

 the snow it had run off on the surface, 

 and what had not so escaped was frozen 

 in the temporary channels on the fields. 

 On the 5th the mean temperature was 

 seventeen degrees. The thaw was ar- 

 rested and the freeze was upon us. Jan- 

 uary 6 the mean temperature had risen 

 to thirty-three degrees. There was also 

 .33 inches of rain. January 7 the mean 

 temperature was twenty-five degrees, 

 and that of the 8th was eighteen de- 

 grees. January 9 and 10 it was twenty- 

 rive. January 1 1 it was twenty-two de- 

 grees. 



The mean remained near the freezing 

 point until January 18, when it rose to 

 forty. There was at the same time 

 (i8th) half an inch of rainfall. The 

 mean for the igth was thirty-three de- 

 grees. On the 20th it was thirty-six 

 degrees. On the 2ist it was forty-five 

 degrees, and on the same day the rain- 

 fall was .72 of an inch. My journal 

 for the same date records that in the 

 forest-tree nursery at Mont Alto I 

 found the ground solidly frozen, though 



in woods immediately adjacent the leaf- 

 covered forest floor was not frozen. 



At this time, on the mountain plateau, 

 back of Mont Alto, at an altitude of 

 1,650 feet above tide, the rain and melt- 

 ing snow from the cleared land flowed 

 over the road, and even the culverts 

 were inadequate to remove the volume 

 of water. I had never before, during 

 a residence of six years, witnessed such 

 a condition of affairs. But mark the 

 contrast on the adjacent forest-covered 

 slopes of from two to three thousand 

 acres. The snow was melting there, too, 

 and rain was falling on the forest floor 

 just as rapidly as on the open fields. 

 There was, however, no torrent, be- 

 cause the water was being taken up by 

 the unfrozen soil of the forest. When 

 toward the end, the stream. which car- 

 ried the water off did rise, the increase 

 was small in comparison with the flood 

 from the open .ground. 



I should add that the flow from the 

 open ground went off by one stream, 

 and that from the forest went by an- 

 other, so that it was easy to make the 

 comparison. 



From the 22d of January until Feb- 

 ruary 6, the mean temperature varied 

 but a few degrees on either side of the 

 freezing point. I merely allude to this 

 to remark that the forest floor was still 

 unfrozen, and the surface of the field 

 remained frozen. The heat of the day 

 was not sufficient to overcome the cold 

 of the night. 



During the nineteen days from the 

 6th to the 25th of February, the mean 

 temperature was below the freezing 

 point thirteen days, and the surface of 

 the fields remained frozen. 



The thaw which commenced on Feb- 

 ruary 27 may be said to have broken up 

 the winter. From the upper waters of 

 the Susquehanna, almost to the Mary- 

 land line, vast quantities of melting 

 snow were pouring out of the country. 

 It was a flood of sufficient magnitude to 

 have satisfied Mr. Moore's most ex- 

 acting demand. Observations made at 

 this time showed that the forest lands 

 were still absorbing water. The most 

 of the flood must, therefore, have come 

 from the open ground, for the forest 

 streams were not greatly swollen. 



