1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



469 



and bare watersheds is very striking. 

 The flow from our timbered watersheds 

 is slow and continuous ; from the chap- 

 arral-covered areas a greater variation, 

 quicker run-off, and a much less run-off 

 than from the timbered areas in the 

 latter part of the season, showing that 

 less water has been conserved and a 

 greater evaporation has taken place. 

 Bare watersheds on our steep mountain 

 sides retain practically none of the pre- 

 cipitation, but allow it to run off with 

 a rush, erpding the mountains and de- 

 positing vast quantities of debris in the 

 valleys. 



I will give one more illustration of the 

 great damage to water supply by fire. 



Near Pasadena there are two small can- 

 yons, from which some years ago an 

 equal amount of water was flowing, 

 being conducted in iron pipes. About 

 1885 a fire swept over the drainage of 

 one of these canyons. The water supply 

 from this burned canyon decreased im- 

 mediately, and the season after the fire 

 it ceased to flow entirely. As the chap- 

 arral and trees came back the water re- 

 appeared, until now the supply, while 

 not equal to the original flow, is on the 

 increase. The water in the canyon that 

 was not burned continued to flow. 

 These canyons are very near together on 

 the south slope of the San Gabriel Re- 

 serve. 



FOREST FIRES. 



THE northwest has been the prin- 

 cipal sufferer from forest fires 

 during September, although in most 

 cases not the same territory as that laid 

 waste by the fires mentioned in our last 

 number. 



Oregon. Oregon appears to have 

 suffered more severe loss than any of 

 the other states from numerous fires 

 throughout its area, the most destruct- 

 ive of which was perhaps that near 

 Holbrook, where the loss exceeded 

 $13,000, according to newspaper re- 

 ports. This fire gained headway early 

 in the month, and at about the same 

 time the Bull Run Forest Reserve was 

 threatened by a forest fire in the vicinity 

 of Mt. Hood. On September 10, news- 

 paper reports indicated the presence of 

 two blazes in the vicinity of the Cas- 

 cade Forest Reserve, and by September 

 17 it was reported that they had in- 

 flicted considerable damage to the mag- 

 nificent timber in that section. After 

 smouldering for several days a fire broke 

 out two miles southeast of Gresham, and 

 in its course toward the Clackamas 

 River destroyed a number of farm build- 

 ings and cut and standing timber. A 

 forest fire between Manning and Buxton 

 inflicted damage, and in the vicinity of 

 Clatskanie, Columbia county, scattered 

 fires threatened considerable damage 



until extinguished. As late as Septem- 

 ber 1 8 it was reported that 3,000,000 

 feet of green timber had been destroyed 

 along the Sandy River near Ames. 



Washington. After being practically 

 extinguished, the forest fire at Fourth 

 Plain, which, as stated in the September 

 number of FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 

 inflicted considerable damage, broke out 

 again with renewed vigor, and devas- 

 tated the country in that vicinit}' until 

 it was again found necessary, on Sep- 

 tember 17, to detail soldiers from the 

 Vancouver Barracks to assist in quelling 

 the flames. A continuation of the last 

 month's fires in Pierce county also de- 

 stroyed property in several localities, 

 and a fire on the headwaters of the Pu- 

 yallup River shut off all electric power 

 in Seattle for several hours, owing to 

 the destruction of power transmission 

 poles from the power company's plant 

 at Electron. At La Grande, in Thurs- 

 ton county, in a practically unexplored 

 and impenetrable country, forest fires 

 were reported on September 8 to have 

 done considerable damage. Incendi- 

 arism is supposed to have been the 

 origin of a forest fire on the Kalama 

 River, which destroyed a large amount 

 of green timber. It is estimated by 

 Seattle newspapers that a loss of $6,000 

 in city timberlands was incurred through 



