570 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



December 



or their effects. These, it will be well 

 to review and deal with a little more 



fully. 



First. No erosion of great amount 

 need be feared here. Deep cutting the 

 hranite rocks of New Hampshire may 

 be counted on to resist. The wash 

 also of the surface soil and its vege- 

 table cover is believed to be confined 

 to very small districts. 



Second. There is generally a liber- 

 al reproduction of one thing or an- 

 other on the cut-over lands, no matter 

 how they were cut. Nature provides 

 this in spite of us, and we have only 

 to protect it. As a rule, too, the new 

 growth is of good type. Where spruce 

 and fir stood before, fir and spruce 

 come up again. There is more bush 

 growth and worthless stuff amongst 

 the regrowth in stands of soft and 

 hardwoods. 



Third. From the steep mountain 

 slopes left in the shape they are by 

 lumbering, the snows of winter melt 

 very rapidly, and run into the streams 

 much earlier in spring than they did 

 when those slopes were timbered. The 

 run-off of rain is not so easy to fol- 

 low, but in respects to this there can 

 be far less difference between cut and 

 uncut land. Whatever these changes 

 may amount to in their effects outside, 

 it fair to say that conditions within the 

 mountains are such that it would seem 

 we must have got their full force al- 

 ready on every primary drainage ex- 

 cept that of the Merrimac river. 



Fourth. Fire, where it occurs, em- 

 phasizes all the bad conditions brought 

 about by cutting, and does on its own 

 account fresh and irreparable damage. 

 It destroys advance growth that was 

 on the ground already, and by burn- 

 ing up seed trees accidentally left de- 

 stroys the means of fresh reproduction 

 as well. Its destruction of soil, too, is 

 oftentimes complete. The loss of the 

 soil cover of rotten leaves, moss and 

 roots is a detriment to any forest, but 

 in large parts of the White Mountain 

 district it means the whole thing. Fire 

 on cut-over land, as a rule, postpones 

 for some decades the re-establishment 



of a productive forest and of forest 

 conditions. In some places it destroys 

 the possibility of forest growth for 

 centuries. The first requisite for the 

 maintenance of woods here whether 

 valued for their productive or protec- 

 tive capacity, is effective fire protec- 

 tion. 



The question now arises whether 

 any other than a governmental agency 

 can be looked to to do the right thing 

 in the way of protection and manage- 

 ment for these woods. Are not the 

 industrial forces there such that they 

 will themselves work out the problem 

 in time? Can educational agencies be 

 brought to bear or co-operation plan- 

 ned between owners and the state 

 which will secure to the woods the 

 treatment they deserve and require? 

 Paper mill companies, for instance, in 

 some instances and situations have 

 handled their woods carefully and con- 

 servatively, as well probably as in the 

 general interests of the public need be 

 asked. Is their complete dominance 

 in the White Mountains likely, and if 

 it is, can it be looked to to secure, even 

 after the lapse of time, the steady care 

 and foresighted treatment which the 

 woods require? 



This is a matter of judgment, and 

 different men might look at is differ- 

 ently. In the opinion of the writer 

 there is no sufficient relief to be looked 

 for in that direction. The reasons for 

 this lie far back in the topography of 

 the region, the forest conditions and 

 the stand of timber. These moun- 

 tains, as a rule, can't be handled as 

 selection forests. Operation is too ex- 

 pensive and the risk to thinned woods 

 from fire and wind too great. Clean 

 cutting for a private owner is the only 

 possible policy to pursue, and when 

 that has taken place the value of the 

 land is too small and the prospect of 

 the future crop too distant to induce 

 an individual or a corporation to pro- 

 vide the adequate protection. Public 

 protection the case absolutely de- 

 mands, and public ownership also is 

 required if we are to secure for that 

 policy either its utmost efficiency or 



