January 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



37 



almost barren, white sand, extending 

 for miles along the course of a stream. 



Since the value of a water power 

 depends entirely upon the water avail- 

 able, anything tending to reduce its 

 amount or to change its distribution 

 by increasing the violence of the floods 

 and at the same time diminishing the 

 low-water flow, will work injury in 

 precise proportion to the change pro- 

 duced. This result is inevitable upon 

 the deforestation of the drainage basin 

 and on many of the streams has al- 

 ready become evident. 



More than 24 per cent of the total 

 area of this region has been cleared of 

 its forests. 



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 pros- 

 perity of the region, resulting from the 

 development of diversified industries. 



There has been wonderful progress 

 in cotton manufacturing during the 

 last ten or fifteen years. 



North Carolina, which had in 1887 

 200,000 spindles, in 1904 had 2,000,- 

 000 ; and South Carolina, with 230,000 

 spindles in 1887, had in 1904 nearlv 

 3,000,000. 



North Carolina has today as many 

 cotton mills as Massachusetts, though 

 they are not as large. 



The five first states in the Union in 

 cotton manufacturing, arranged ac- 

 cording to number of spindles, are 

 Massachusetts, South Carolina, Rhode 

 Island. North Carolina, and Georgia. 

 These facts are stated to show the im- 

 mense progress that has been made in 

 manufacturing in the South during the 

 last few years and illustrate the impor- 

 tance of power in these states. Many 

 new mills are run by water power, and 

 from the present outlook the day is not 

 far distant when the great majority of 



southern mills will be operated by the 

 power delivered to them electrically. 



Water power is universally recog- 

 nized as the cheapest power to be se- 

 cured for any kind 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, 

 day and night, while every ton of coal 

 that passes in at the furnace door rep- 

 resents 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 disposal of 

 the finished product. By reason of the 

 great improvements in electrical trans- 

 mission of power, steam has lost its 

 advantages, for water power can now 

 be brought to a mill for distances of 

 many miles more cheaply than power 

 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 wantonlv 

 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 desirable 

 therefore, if for no other 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. Any dis- 

 cussion of this, based on the total fall 

 from source to month and the average 

 quantity of water carried by the 

 stream, would be worse than mislead- 



