504 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



November 



On the Watauga, in North Carolina 

 and Tennessee, $2,000,000. 



On the Nolichucky, in North Caro- 

 lina and Tennessee, $1,500,000. 



. On the French Broad and Pigeon, in 

 North Carolina and Tennessee, $500,- 

 ooo. 



On the Tuckasegee, Little Tennes- 

 see, and Hiwassee, in North Carolina 

 and Tennessee, $500,000. 



On the tributaries of western Geor- 

 gia and Alabama streams rising in this 

 region, $500,000. 



This aggregate of $10,000,000 tells 

 a story of destruction never before 

 equalled in this region. Bridges were 

 swept away by the score ; houses by 

 the hundred ; thousands of miles of 

 public roads were washed away almost 

 beyond the possibility of repair. The 

 soil in the narrow, irregular, fring- 

 ing valley lands in the mountain region 

 was in many cases partially and in 

 other cases completely washed away. 

 In the lowlands beyond, the broader 

 bordering valleys were denuded be- 

 yond recuperation. Some areas were 

 denuded of soil, while others were 

 covered with desert-like, almost bar- 

 ren white sand extending for miles 

 along the course of a stream. 



But while the damage from the 

 storm of 1901 exceeds that of any pre- 

 ceding year, it is common knowledge 

 among the mountaineers that annually 

 the floods have risen irregularly but 

 steadily higher, and that their destruc- 

 tive work has been increasing in pro- 

 portion as the forest clearings and the 

 forest burnings have proceeded. We 

 may confidently expect that floods of 

 the future will exceed those of the 

 past. 



Many of these streams have fine wa- 

 ter powers along their courses, the 

 value of which is limited by their low- 

 water flow. Deforestation means the 

 destruction of the only source of nat- 

 ural storage in the region, and that the 

 rainfall will reach the stream almost 

 as soon as it falls, so that in the dry 

 season there will be no reserve supply 

 to augment the low-water flow, which 

 is drawn principally from the sub-sur- 



face sources. These water powers are 

 a potential source of prosperity to the 

 region in which they are found, and 

 since their value depends entirely upon 

 the water available, anything tending 

 to reduce its amount or to change its 

 distribution by increasing the violence 

 of the floods and at the same time di- 

 minishing the low-water flow, will 

 work injury in precise proportion to 

 the change produced. This result is 

 inevitable upon the deforestation of the 

 drainage basin, and on many of the 

 streams has already become evident. 

 It is the general testimony of the older 

 inhabitants of the region that the 

 streams are now much more irregular 

 than they were before active and wide- 

 spread clearing operations had been 

 begun. And while the evidence of the 

 "oldest inhabitant," as an individual, 

 may not be quite all that can be de- 

 sired, collectively it is entitled to large 

 credence. Already 24 per cent of the 

 total area of this region has been 

 cleared of its forests. 



Lumbering operations are at present 

 rather widespread, and the forests in 

 many regions already begin to show 

 evidence of their effect. The large 

 mills are usually steam saw-mills, to 

 which the logs are either transported 

 by a system of tramroads radiating 

 from the site of the mill, or, where the 

 mill is located near a stream of suffi- 

 cient size, the logs are brought down 

 by splashing. A number of small saw- 

 mills have been erected which make 

 use of the abundant water power fur- 

 nished by the various streams. These 

 are, as a rule, of small capacity, from 

 500 to i ,000 feet per day, and do main- 

 ly the custom sawing for the region 

 near by. In addition to these there 

 are numerous small saw-mills owned 

 for the most part by some firm holding 

 extensive tracts of forest, and these are 

 moved from place to place as the near- 

 by timber becomes exhausted. 



In any case the effect of the saw- 

 mill on the forests is the same. All the 

 trees available for use in any manner 

 are cut into plank, and the careless 

 methods destroy the greater part of 





