4i8 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



September 



horse-power by a drop of water some ress for the valley, and feels sure that the 



40 feet. present canal system, upon which the 



The writer takes great pleasure in welfare of the valley depends, will in the 



predicting continued success and prog- near future be improved and extended. 



FORESTRY ON EDWARDS PLATEAU. 



HOW IT WILL GREATLY BENEFIT A VAST 

 AGRICULTURAL SECTION OF LOW 7 ER TEXAS. 



THE topography of Texas is such 

 that a vast body of its agricult- 

 ural lands can be regularly supplied 

 with a large amount of water without 

 employing expensive irrigation systems 

 which are so commonly required in 

 many Western States. Texas is pro- 

 vided in the Edwards Plateau with a 

 vast rain catchment basin, which has 

 an area of some 15,000 square miles, 

 covering 1 1 whole counties and the half 

 of 13 others in central and western 

 Texas. Its southern boundary is a line 

 of cliffs in the hill region, extending 

 from Austin to San Antonio and on to 

 Del Rio. It stretches northward from 

 the Colorado River beyond the granite 

 region and into the timbered portion of 

 the Grand Prairie. An elevation at 



Austin of 400 feet above the coast plain 

 increases to 2,400 feet above sea level 

 in its northwestern extension. The 

 rainfall over this large territory is 

 yielded up to the plains below through 

 a number of rivers and a chain of superb 

 springs issuing from the base of the 

 escarpment which marks the plateau's 

 southern boundary. 



Dependent on the water supply of this 

 plateau is a great stretch of the most 

 fertile lands of Texas contained in the 

 Rio Grande and Coast plains. These 

 lands are in a semi-arid region and have 

 not been fully productive because of 

 insufficient moisture, which is due to 

 the fact that half of the rainfall of the 

 plateau is wasted in destructive floods. 

 The problem is to abate these floods, 



CEDAR BREAK NEAR AUSTIN WHICH HAS GROWN UP AFTER A CLEARING TWENTY-FIVE 



YEARS AGO. 



