I94 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



419 



THICK GROWTH OF SMALL MOUNTAIN OAK ON THE SIDE OF A DEEP GORGE IN THE 



EDWARDS PLATEAU COUNTRY NEAR AUSTIN. 



store away the water, and supply it 

 gradually throughout the year to the 

 farm lands below. It is believed that 

 the application of forest management to 

 the Edwards Plateau will do very much 

 to accomplish this important result. 



The peculiar structure of the plateau 

 fits it to absorb and store up water. It 

 is a limestone country with tilting strata 

 and extensive systems of fissures and 

 caverns. To these are due the copious 

 springs that issue from the earth far 

 away at the southern boundary of the 

 plateau. The present forest cover is 

 by no means continuous, even in the 

 rougher sections, but is broken into by 

 open, grassy uplands. In the canyons 

 a heavy timber growth is found, but the 

 principal forests are those of the hills 

 and bluffs. These are composed of 

 variously mixed stands of timber. The 

 cedar brakes are very dense and con- 

 tain a good proportion of heavy timber, 

 while the tree growth of the " shin- 

 neries ' ' and of the ' ' hardscrabble ' 

 country is stunted and found on the 

 uplands. The mountain oak is a spe- 

 cially valuable species to the plateau, for 

 it thrives in thickets on slopes of low 

 gradient and on the hard limestone of 



gorges. The lorests of the hills and 

 bluffs are the most extensive, but with 

 the exception of the heavier growth of 

 cedar the wood is valuable chiefly for 

 fuel. Clearing for farm lands, cutting 

 for fuel, and forest fires have made 

 great inroads upon these woodlands. 

 An important and encouraging fact is, 

 however, that all the hill species are 

 characteristically rapid in recovering 

 denuded ground. Further, it is char- 

 acteristic of the scrub oak to encroach 

 upon the prairie and of mountain cedar 

 to capture adobe slopes. Thus in the 

 very parts of the plateau where con- 

 servative forestry should be applied to 

 create a protective forest are found the 

 most desirable tree species and topo- 

 graphic conditions most favorable to the 

 work. 



While the structure of the plateau is 

 admirably suited to absorbing water, its 

 rough, eroded and rocky condition also 

 favors a rapid run-off. The imperative 

 need is, therefore, a means of retarding 

 the flow of the water until the soil has a 

 chance to drink it up. The best means 

 of affecting this is through a forest cover, 

 which assists in many ways the accumu- 

 lation of a reserve water supply. The 



