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MINERALS 



V 



Vol. XV 



NOVEMBER, 1909 



No. ii 



How Our Forests Are Wasted, and Why the 

 Need of Government Control 



By S.T. KELSEY 



ALL of the water upon the land 

 surface of the earth comes in the 

 form of rain or snow, and can 

 doubtless be depended upon so long as 

 the ocean endures and the sun shines. 



Though certain as the sunshine, the 

 rainfall is as variable and uncertain as 

 the wind, and as uncontrollable by man's 

 devices ; but after it has fallen it is con- 

 trolled and its effect upon the earth reg- 

 ulated by conditions for which man is 

 largely responsible -- conditions which 

 he may direct and modify, but may not 

 defy with impunity. 



One condition is that the bare, loose 

 covering of the earth, exposed to the 

 falling rain, is sure to be washed from 

 the higher levels into the valleys, the 

 streams, and at last into the ocean be- 

 low. And no practicable substitute has 

 been found for the forest-covering that 

 nature has provided for regulating the 

 run-off of the water and protecting the 

 earth's surface from disintegration, dis- 

 placement, and ultimate barrenness. 



We in America came into possession 



of a land stored with the accumulated 

 wealth of the ages. In our reckless 

 haste for gain we are destroying more 

 of this stored-up wealth in a single dec- 

 ade than any of the older people of the 

 earth have done in a century. 



But the direct destruction of our re- 

 sources is not the worst feature of the 

 case. The land was protected from 

 erosion, practically everywhere. The 

 greater portion was covered by dense 

 forests that had formed a bed, or forest 

 floor, of porous soil and decaying wood 

 and leaves, all held in place by a mass 

 of entangling roots, forming a sponge- 

 like covering of the earth that absorbed 

 the water in time of excessive rainfall 

 and allowed it to percolate slowly 

 through, furnishing a constant supply 

 to moisten the earth and maintain the 

 springs and streams. 



To the early settlers the forest had 

 no commercial value and must be 

 cleared off the land to prepare it for 

 growing crops. 



The woods then were the greatest 



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