1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



19 



step that would render more difficult 

 the perpetuation of the forests upon it. 



Resolved, That we concur emphati- 

 cally in President Roosevelt's desire 

 for the preservation of Niagara Falls, 

 and pledge him the support of the 

 Association in his wise effort to that 

 end. 



Resolved, That the American For- 

 estry Association believes that the na- 

 tion should own the Calaveras Grove 

 of Big Trees, and earnestly recom- 

 mends the prompt enactment of leg- 

 islation by Congress for the purchase 

 of these trees. 



IMPORTANCE OF WATER POWERS. 



The Charlotte Daily Observer, in its 

 issue of January 14, printed an inter- 

 esting table of figures, showing the 

 cotton mills in North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, and Georgia which are op- 

 erated by water power, and therefore 

 directly dependent upon an equable 

 flow of water from streams rising in 

 the Southern Appalachian Mountains. 

 This article was read at the Tuesday 

 afternoon session, and it was voted to 

 make it a part of the records. The fol- 

 lowing table, being the aggregate fig- 

 ures taken from the large table, shows 

 in a striking manner how closely the 

 protection of the forests in the Pied- 

 mont Region, and the consequent con- 

 servation of the streams, is related to 

 the industrial welfare of the South and 

 the nation as a whole : 



Capital stock $33,647,500 



Number spindles 2,077,831 



Number looms 50,926 



Number employees 45*685 



Number horse power 90.495 



Number bales per year, 



counting 11 hours a day.. 640,895 



The total value of the annual pro- 

 duction of the mills enumerated is ap- 

 proximately $64,060,776. 



In presenting the table, which is a 

 most comprehensive and accurate one. 

 the Charlotte Observer remarks : 



"This table is compiled to show what 

 interests are involved in the mainte- 

 nance of the regular flow of water in 

 the various streams on which this pow- 



er is made. It shows the cotton con- 

 sumed, the operatives, the number of 

 spindles and the number of looms. The 

 number of operatives should be mul- 

 tiplied by at least three in order to 

 show how many people are dependent 

 upon this resource. It seems that it 

 would be entirely fair to assume that 

 the water power used for all other 

 manufacturing, such as operating saw 

 mills, planing mills, woolen mills, knit- 

 ting mills, furniture factories, cotton 

 seed oil mills, etc., etc., would make 

 an additional amount equal to that em- 

 ployed in the operation of the cotton 

 mills, and would involve the interest 

 of as many people in respect to em- 

 ployment. 



"Therefore it is seen that the pres- 

 ervation of the mountain forests, which 

 is the main influence in regulating the 

 flow of these streams from the moun- 

 tains, is a matter of the most vital im- 

 portance. It has been said that when 

 the mountains of Lebanon were cov- 

 ered with cedars and other forest trees. 

 Palestine supported, in affluence, a 

 population of ten million. After and 

 since the denudation of the mountains 

 of Lebanon, Palestine has scarcely 

 supported five hundred thousand peo- 

 ple, and these, in the main, in poverty. 



"In the table, North and South Car- 

 olina and Georgia are considered. Vir- 

 ginia has interests which are not in 

 the enumeration. So also has Tennes- 

 see and Kentucky, on the western side 

 of the mountains, which would swell 

 the grand totals given." 



The publication of this striking ta- 

 ble and the inferences which can be 

 deduced from its figures should stimu- 

 late a powerful interest in the South 

 in the Appalachian Forest Reserve. 

 The South has not yet awakened to the 

 magnitude of the menace which affects 

 its industries. Such matter as this is 

 a powerful argument for the reserve, 

 and should have the effect of arousing 

 public sentiment to an immediate ap- 

 preciation of what the Southern Appa- 

 lachian Reserve would effect a safe- 

 guard to the treasured industrial ac- 

 tivity of the South, and an asset whose 

 value is incalculable. 



