510 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



November 



great injury in future years to the in- 

 dustrial welfare of the region. 



The states through which flow the 

 streams rising in the region of the pro- 

 posed Appalachian forest reserve have 

 for many years past been devoted 

 mainly to agricultural pursuits ; but 

 within recent years a great awakening 

 has come, and a tendency to manufac- 

 ture the raw material at home has be- 

 come manifest. Already the results 

 are to be seen in the increased prosper- 

 ity of the region, resulting from the 

 development of diversified industries. 



This tendency is growing with great 

 rapidity, and while its beneficial effects 

 will be felt most in the section where 

 it has appeared, it cannot fail to have 

 a considerable influence on the pros- 

 perity of the entire country, for pros- 

 perity comes to those who produce 

 sooner than to those who consume to 

 the seller who can supply the commer- 

 cial needs of the world, rather than 

 those who feel the want. 



Water power is universally recog- 

 nized as the cheapest power to be se- 

 cured for any species of manufacture ; 

 for when once the Constructional de- 

 velopment is at an end the attendant 

 "expenses 'become very small, since, 

 through the operation of the laws of 

 nature, the water flows without cost 

 by day and night, while every ton of 

 coal that passes in at the furnace door 

 represents a certain expenditure, and 

 in plants requiring great power this 

 fuel cost may come to represent a large 

 proportion of the cost of manufacture. 



In the past the chief advantage of 

 steam power over water power was 

 the mobility of the former, for steam 

 could be generated wherever fuel could 

 be obtained and mills could be built 

 where the transportation facilities 

 were such as to insure the quick dis- 

 posal of the finished product. By rea- 

 son of the great improvements in elec- 

 trical transmission of power, steam has 

 lost its advantage, for water power can 

 now be brought to a mill for distances 

 of many miles more cheaply than pow- 

 er can be obtained from coal at most 

 points. The water powers, therefore, 



in the not far distant future may be- 

 come as valuable as coal mines, and as 

 the local coal supply becomes more 

 costly by reason of deeper mining the 

 water powers will increase in value. 



This wealth should not be wantonly 

 wasted. Its present value can be con- 

 served and its future value increased 

 by the preservation of the forests about 

 the headwaters of the streams ; and 

 this preservation would seem desira- 

 ble therefore, if for no nother reason 

 than this, entirely apart from the 

 wealth-producing capabilities of the 

 forests themselves. 



It is impossible at this time to give 

 an accurate statement of the total pow- 

 er available on all the streams rising in 

 and flowing from this area, for the 

 reason that the power on any stream 

 cannot be determined accurately with- 

 out a survey of the entire course of the 

 stream with this object in view, and 

 any discussion of this, based on the 

 total fall from source to mouth and 

 the average quantity of water carried 

 by the, stream, would be worse than 

 misleading, for the mere fact that 

 there is on any stream a certain fall 

 within a certain distance, over which 

 flows a certain amount of water, does 

 not mean that this locality constitutes 

 an available water power. Theoreti- 

 cally the power is there, but practically 

 it is non-existent unless it can be de- 

 veloped and brought to use for a sum 

 which is not prohibitive. In other 

 words, the availability of a water pow- 

 er depends entirely on the economic 

 situation at the point considered, and 

 every location must be viewed by itself 

 in such determination. 



It is, however, certain that on all of 

 these streams large amounts of power 

 can be easily and cheaply developed 

 when the demand for it is sufficient, 

 for the average fall in the streams is 

 great, and is nocticeably high at great 

 numbers of point, while the low-water 

 flow is fairly large on account of the 

 large annual rainfall and the storage 

 effect of the great forests. Further- 

 more, at many points the conditions 

 favorable for easy and cheap develop- 







