562 



CONSERVATION 



earth thrusts and reducing the amount of 

 sediment carried by rivers so important, that 

 these reasons alone justify fully the greatest 

 possible promotion of forest culture. 



Mr. Ponti, of Italy, seems to have no 

 doubt that forests on steep slopes are 

 useful in the interests of 

 He says : 



navigation. 



In Sicily, the consequence of cutting away 

 the forests on a vast scale in the province 

 of Messina has been also to raise sensibly 

 the bed of the streams, and many of these 

 beds are now above the adjoining fields. 



Mr. Keller, of Austria, thinks that 

 forests affect the regimen and discharge 

 of rivers only to a slight extent, except 

 in mountainous regions, regarding 

 which he says : 



However, there is no doubt that in many 

 cases deforestation has contributed to the 

 erosion of the mountains and to the deposit 

 of the soil at their foot, as also to an unfa- 

 vorable change in the conditions of flow and 

 drainage of the waters. This remark applies 

 equally to the regions of high mountain 

 ranges as to the Mediterranean basin. 

 There, also, the formation of a cohesive soil 

 takes too long to make good the loss caused 

 by a sudden shower. 



Mr. Lokhtine, of Prussia, does not 

 discuss particularly the effect of moun- 

 tain forests, but among his conclusions 

 is the following: 



(i) Forests form a beneficent factor, act- 

 ing favorably on the general abundance of 

 water in a country, and particularly on the 



supply of streams and rivers. That is why 

 the destruction of forests should be consid- 

 ered as hurtful and dangerous. 



These extracts show that foreign au- 

 thorities are unanimous as to the bene- 

 fits of forests on the mountains upon 

 the flow of streams and the interests 

 of navigation. 



It will not be attempted to discuss 

 Colonel Chittenden's remarks with ref- 

 erence to reservoirs, as these are not 

 here under consideration. 



Finally, it must be remembered that 

 the acquirement by the Government of 

 forest reserves in the Appalachian and 

 White Mountains will be of benefit to 

 the navigation of the streams not sim- 

 ply in proportion to the area of these 

 reserves. By acquiring a foothold, the 

 Forest Service will be able to demon- 

 strate to owners of adjoining tracts the 

 benefits of wise forest management, and 

 will be able to cooperate with them on 

 the ground in using similar methods in 

 their own forests. The Government, 

 also, for the same reason will be able 

 to restrict forest fires, not only on the 

 Government reserves, but on private 

 lands. The effect of the Government 

 reserves, therefore,, will be much larger 

 than in proportion to their area, and by 

 wise management and by cooperation 

 with private owners, not only will ero- 

 sion of the ground be prevented and the 

 flow of the streams favorably affected, 

 but the timber supply will be conserved. 



