254 



THE FORESTER. 



October, 



the durability of the timber, is one of 

 those lines of experiments which we have 

 determined, by preliminary investigations, 

 will yield most valuable results. But it is 

 a line of work which, to carry to comple- 

 tion, involves the unlimited control or 

 ownership of sections in various kinds of 

 forests ; also the work of several assistants, 

 and more expense than can be allowed 

 from the funds at present available for 

 such work. 



With the adoption of scientific forestry 



it is possible, through proper cooperation, 

 to demonstrate the practical value of recom- 

 mendations for preventing losses from 

 insect depredations on forests and forest 

 products; or to conduct new experiments 

 for the determination of new facts. 

 Therefore, it is hoped that in this era of 

 liberal appropriations for scientific re- 

 search, and increased interest in its value 

 to public interests, the subject of coopera- 

 tion and better facilities will receive its 

 share of attention. 



THE OPEN RANGE AND THE IRRIGATION FARMER. 



By Professor R. H. Forbes, 

 Director Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Part II. 



IN this connection, moreover, comes up 

 the problem of water storage. Those 

 who are so earnestly advocating the 

 storage of water in great and costly reser- 

 voirs in these regions, have here a very 

 serious problem to contend with. I am 

 not aware that a method has yet been de- 

 vised which will keep a great reservoir 

 clear when filled from supplies of this 

 character. 



The problem of range administration, 

 therefore, is seen to be vitally connected 

 with that of water storage; for if this 

 problem remains unsolved, of what utility 

 is it that we construct reservoirs costing: 

 millions of dollars, and create extensive 

 farming communities beneath them, if 

 within a limited period the reservoir is to 

 be filled and the investment of time and 

 labor of hundreds of farmers is thereby to 

 be destroyed? 



Yet again, the destructive force of these 

 floods is a very serious matter throughout 

 the southwest. When the range is bared, 

 the water, especially on the steeper water- 

 sheds, gathers into the lower levels with 

 great rapidity, giving rise to dangerous 

 and destructive floods. I have observed 

 as low as twelve and fifteen hundredths of 



an inch of rain to cause running water on 

 the surface of a tramped-out range. The 

 effects of a sudden fall of a half or three- 

 quarters of an inch of water on such a 

 range can be imagined. 



During this present summer season, the 

 rains having been unusually severe, numer- 

 ous instances of the destructive force of 

 these sudden floods are at hand. On the 

 San Pedro River, one man is reported to 

 have lost a hundred acres of fertile land in 

 a few hours through the erosive action of 

 the stream. At Fairbank, Ariz., in the 

 Babacomari wash, a flood fifty feet deep 

 collected in as many minutes, pouring fif- 

 teen feet deep over a rock-ballasted rail- 

 road which was supposed to be secure. 

 In the Santa Cruz valley, the floods have 

 carried everything before them, washing 

 out bridges and deepening and extending 

 the eroded channel of the river. These, 

 indeed, are instances of destruction of 

 property analogous in nature and in cause 

 to those great floods in central Texas 

 which, originating in devastated ranges, 

 have accumulated as they have neared the 

 sea, and whose disastrous results are too 

 well known to need comment. 



This briefly, is a bird's-eye view of the 



