i8g 9 . AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



Forests in Their Relation to Irrigation 



By Henry Michelson. 



In the northeastern part of Spain, 

 directly south of the Pyrenees, lies the 

 valle)' of the Ebro River. In its upper 

 course, this river gathers its waters in a 

 region of mountain forests and pastures. 

 In its middle course there is a region 

 deserted because of its lack of water. 

 The devastation of forests and the lack 

 of irrigation works account for large 

 tracts of country that have become 

 barren and bereft of population. The 

 southwestern portion of the plateau 

 comprising Estremadura is a broken, 

 mountainous country. Originally the 

 land here was protected by oak and 

 chestnut forests in such a way as to 

 make agriculture possible, while droves 

 of pigs were fed upon mast. Shepherds 

 found it necessary to bring their flocks 

 into this region to avoid the rigorous 

 winters of the interior highlands. The 

 result has shown the inveterate hate of 

 the shepherd for the forest. Little by 

 little this natural covering has been 

 stripped away, the climate has been 

 altered and Estremadura is now con- 

 sidered the most backward part of Spain. 

 The agriculturist of Spain has not 

 properly prized the two heritages which 

 his environment indicates to have been 

 the most valuable of his original posses- 

 sions. He has wasted the forests and 

 has neglected to properly preserve and 

 employ the supplies of water at his 

 hand. Agriculturally, Spain was prob- 

 ably in better condition when the Moors 

 possessed it than now. 



The denudation of forests in the 

 Volga Valley, and in fact throughout 

 the whole of the center and south of 

 Russia, has had for its effect the diminu- 

 tion of the rainfall and the impoverish- 

 ment of soil. Scarcity is almost con- 

 tinuous even in the black soil districts, 

 famine is always on the horizon and 

 every few years the specter of want enters 

 the doorway of millions of Russian 

 homes. Much of the soil, in European 



Russia, vast as it is, is rapidly becoming 

 exhausted. 



That the forests at the sources of all 

 rivers which rise at high altitudes consist 

 mainly of coniferous trees, which not only 

 shield the snow from rapid melting, 

 but also by their dense shade prevent 

 rapid evaporation of the ground water. 

 To denude the mountain side by axe or 

 fire is followed by an early disappear- 

 ance of fallen snow, destruction wrought 

 by soil erosion, drying up of springs, 

 the formation of torrents which are de- 

 structive of everything within the path 

 of the waters, and, for the irrigator, the 

 necessity of constructing reservoirs for 

 water storage. 



Wherever the mountains have been 

 cut bare it is vain for the husbandman 

 of the plains below to hope for water for 

 his crops during the growing season, for 

 the moisture will evaporate and dis- 

 appear so soon, as the spring sun shall 

 have warmed up the barren cliffs. We 

 know that creeks which did run the year 

 around at the advent of the white man 

 have now barely water enough to run 

 for three months. Colorado is preparing 

 for itself the fate of Spain. The early 

 explorers describe it as a land of snowy 

 peaks, sparkling rivers, dense woods 

 covering the foothills into the plains. 

 At the present time we find the greater 

 part of its forests destroyed, its timbers 

 wasted by fire, its streams lacking water 

 and its agricultural part depending on 

 reservoirs to supply the crops. As the 

 peaks are denuded of their coniferous 

 trees, the snowfall will melt rapidly, the 

 summer will have no water supply for 

 the parched fields of the plains below. 



The winter of 1897-8 was snowless 

 and fears were entertained that the beau- 

 tiful valley of the Cache la Poudre would 

 be unable to raise a crop during the 

 season of 1898. A very opportune snow- 

 storm which occurred in the beginning 

 of the month of May, fortunately took 



