1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



149 



disastrous flood of Ma)^ 1901, in the 

 Southern Appalachian region. Late in 

 March a portion of the same region was 

 again visited by a flood even more de- 

 structive than that of last year. The 

 following, reprinted from the Portland 

 (Oregon) Telegram, is to the point : 



' ' The recent floods in Eastern Ten- 

 nessee were the most disastrous ever 

 known in that region. About 20 

 lives were lost, and property to the 

 estimated amount of $5,000,000 was 

 destroyed. A continuous rain of 24 

 hours' duration was considered the ap- 

 proximate cause of the destructive 

 flood. The 24-hours' downpour, in a 

 region settled for over a century, in 

 which time there have probably been 

 many such precipitations, should be- 

 come such a calamity and catastrophe, 

 seems to bear with it a lesson. The 

 first practical and useful conclusion is 

 that the 24-hours' rainstorm was not, of 

 itself, the cause of the destruction, or 

 rather that, if the cause, it points to 

 other causes. Chief among these one 

 stands out clear and prominent the 

 rapid denudation of the forest areas of 

 the higher levels of that region. 



' ' Settlement began on the tributaries 

 of the Tennessee even before the Revo- 

 lution, and until some years after the 

 Civil War the population was almost 

 wholly agricultural. The forests were 

 only cut to supply the demand for a 

 comparatively sparse and not over-active 

 population. Some fifteen or twenty 

 years ago the era of industrial develop- 

 ment began in that region. Mineral 

 resources were investigated and ex- 

 ploited. Mills were built. A lumber 

 market was found. The woods began 

 rapidly to disappear to meet these new 

 demands. During the last few years 

 these demands have greatly increased 

 in number and volume. The hills and 

 mountains have become bare ; the rain- 

 fail has decreased ; but when an unusu- 

 ally heavy or slightly prolonged rain 

 comes, it causes the flood that we have 

 recently read of, whereas a century or 

 even a quarter of a century ago such a 

 rain would have had no appreciably evil 

 or disastrous effects. The leaves, and 

 roots, and grasses, and verdure gener- 

 ally, would have absorbed the rain. 



and issued it out on the sun's requisi- 

 tion later in the season." 



This is an intelligent opinion by a 

 writer three thousand miles away ; it 

 would seem that it is high time that the 

 mass of people here in the East rise to 

 the occasion. A few broad-minded 

 men have been doing their best to bring 

 about the preservation of this region, 

 and it is possible that this recurrence of 

 last 3^ear's disaster may arouse the 

 needed interest. 



Forest Work The subject of forestry 

 in the States. has received legislative 

 recognition in only 18 

 of the states, and of these the work 

 has been abandoned in three, leaving 

 but 15 states in which forest work is 

 carried on at the present. These are 

 Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, 

 Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, 

 New Jersey, New York, North Caro- 

 lina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsyl- 

 vania, West Virginia, and Wi.sconsin. 



Adequate financial provision has been 

 made, however, in only two states, New 

 York and Pennsylvania, and in these 

 work is being actively carried on. In 

 Minnesota a good forest-fire system has 

 been introduced, which is as effective 

 as can be expected under the prevail- 

 ing conditions. (This work is under 

 the direction of the chief fire warden, 

 who is deputy to the Forest Commis- 

 sioner, the state auditor holding the 

 latter office ex officio. ) There is also a 

 State Forestry Board, which is empow- 

 ered to accept and administer for forest 

 purposes cut-over, denuded, prairie, and 

 other lands of very low value and unfit 

 for agriculture. An appropriation of 

 $1,000 is made to defray the expenses 

 of this board, and the improvement and 

 reforestation of the reserv^ed lands are 

 to take care of themselves. 



Kansas has a commissioner of for- 

 estrj' and irrigation. Under the act 

 creating this commission, two experi- 

 mental stations have been established, 

 one at Dodge City, the other at Ogallah. 

 The sum of $1,000 is appropriated to 

 carry on experiments in tree-planting 

 and irrigation. 



Connecticut has a state forester, who 



