EARLY EXPERIENCES 17 



yards down-stream, leaving them, finally, mere 

 masses of twisted iron. These bridges were 

 twelve or fifteen feet above the normal flow of 

 the stream, yet, even so, they did not escape de- 

 struction. How, then, is it possible for stream 

 life to stand against such catastrophe? Further- 

 more, this scouring of the beds of the streams 

 by ice and debris carried down during the floods 

 undoubtedly destroys great quantities of the 

 larvae of the aquatic insects which form an im- 

 portant part of the trout's food, and this, too, 

 indirectly affects the supply of fish available to 

 the angler's rod. After a severe winter and a 

 torrential spring there is a noticeable dearth 

 of fly upon the water another of the many 

 causes of lament of the fly fisherman of to-day. 

 Directly or indirectly, all of the conditions 

 above described are the result of the ruthless 

 cutting of the timber from the hills. Happily, 

 there is reason to hope that these conditions are 

 not going to grow worse, because the present 

 movement toward the preservation of the for- 

 ests seems to be gaining headway; conservation 

 of nature's resources will come to be a fixed 

 policy of our National and State Governments, 

 and if the policy is pushed with vigour and per- 

 sistence our children's children may some day 



