28 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



January 



I have no reference, however, to this 

 very small issue. It is quite obvious 

 to those who have studied the question 

 that conservative and judicious lum- 

 bering may be carried forward indefi- 

 nitely without the destruction of any 

 forest areas whatsoever. We need look 

 no further than Germany's well-main- 

 tained forestry system for confirma- 

 tion. 



This simple question, however, has 

 no real relation to the subject matter 

 of this paper; it is an issue far less 

 large and important in its bearing 

 upon the whole problem than than 

 that which has prompted this paper. 



In pointing a conclusion, it is per- 

 haps preferable to localize the discus- 

 sion to some relatively restricted area, 

 and the region chosen for the present 

 argument is the Southern Appalachian 

 chain (with the Smoky Mountains the 

 central group) extending through the 

 Carolinas and into Tennessee and 

 Georgia. Certain sections of this area 

 have been, and I understand others 

 are still being, ruthlessly stripped of 

 its timber. Over the lower country, 

 sloping downward to the Atlantic, are 

 scattered numerous textile mills, which 

 constitute one of the chief elements 

 perhaps the greatest single element 

 making for the increased prosperity of 

 the South. 



From these great weaving and spin- 

 ning establishments the South sends 

 out annually an already vast and rap- 

 idly increasing volume of expert cot- 

 ton goods. The South is, in short, 

 struggling for, and has perhaps already 

 in a large measure achieved, su- 

 premacy in the cotton goods trade of 

 the Orient. The balance of foreign 

 trade is, in short, in favor of the South, 

 and this balance is growing daily with 

 the growth of the industry.* 



To maintain or increase its position 

 in the cotton industry, it is essential 

 that the South should produce its ex- 

 port cotton goods at low initial cost. 

 Only by the introduction and constant 

 betterment of machinery and modern 

 methods can we hope to compete with 



the cheap labor and physical propin- 

 quity of Japan and other industrial na- 

 tions in the great eastern market. One 

 of the large factors in the cost of pro- 

 duction of textiles is power. The 

 maintenance or loss of foreign trade 

 may very well rest in the cost of power. 

 Over 50,000 horse power of electri- 

 cal energy is already in actual use to- 

 day in southern textile mills for driv- 

 ing weaving and spinning machinery 

 and for kindred purposes, directly con- 

 tributing to the low cost in the manu- 

 facture of cotton goods. The applica- 

 tion of the so-called "electric drive" on 

 an extensive scale is relatively new, 

 and has had a most pronounced effect 

 upon the first cost of the product; in 

 fact, one may venture to say that it 

 has been a very large factor in the in- 

 creasing credit balance of the South 

 in connection with foreign trade. 



There can be no doubt that the ex- 

 tension of this economic step will be 

 rapid, and if the obvious precautions 

 which are pointed out in the latter por- 

 tion of this paper are promptly and ef- 

 fectively taken, the rapid increase in 

 our percentage of the total cotton trade 

 of the Orient should apparently be se- 

 cure. Of the 50,000 horse power of 

 electrical energy utilized in driving 

 textile machinery, a very large propor- 

 tion is derived initially from water 

 power. 



Like most countries underlying an 

 extensive mountain system, the South 

 is rich in water powers, many of them 

 of great volume. A relatively very 

 small number of these have as yet been 

 fully developed. The character of the 

 Southern Appalachians is such that, 

 in their natural condition, with their 

 relatively dense forest areas, their 

 thick tangles of laurel, and their deep 

 bed of moss, loose decomposed rock, 

 vegetable mould, and other absorbent 

 ' material all technically known in for- 

 estry, I believe, as the "sponge'' these 

 mountains are almost ideal in their 

 ability to store up the rainfall and de- 

 liver it over slowly and at an equal rate 

 to the headwaters of the rivers which 

 flow into the Atlantic. 



