CHAPTER X 



. Trees and Torrents 



The value of growing forests as a means of 

 protection against erosion,, landslides and floods; 

 afforestation in relation to city and town watersheds 

 and water supplies. 



Every spring we read of the great damage 

 caused by cloud-bursts and floods, of lives lost, and 

 property swept away. It Is always difiicult to as- 

 sign a specific reason for such catastrophies of 

 nature, but we are now beginning to realize that the 

 denuding of the forests Is, In part, directly or In- 

 directly responsible. It cannot be denied that trees 

 alone through their interlacing system of tiny roots 

 and through the layer of spongy humus which they 

 engender, conserve the moisture from melting snows 

 or sudden rains, and allow it to trickle slowly 

 through without washing off the soil, while a forest 

 cover also tends to break the force of rain, and 

 shades the snow so as to allow its gradual melting. 



The Influence of large areas of forest In stabiliz- 

 ing rainfall should also be considered. There are 

 no hard and fast rules to be applied. A single llm- 

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