TREES AND TORRENTS 



79 



once been done the soil Is too loose and unstable. 

 The first step usually involves the construction of 

 walls, dams, reservoirs and artificial stream beds to 

 confine the future course of the water; the inter- 



Although it is much easier to obtain tremendous sums for engineering 

 works to tap and control a known water supply, a number of our well 

 informed men believe that forest planting and protection would accom- 

 plish the desired object better and more cheaply than an excess of 

 reservoir construction. 



mediate spaces must then be anchored by transplant- 

 ing tough rooted grass and shrubs ; and then at last 

 nursery grown tree seedlings may be brought in as 

 a beginning of the permanent forest cover. The 

 operation often requires years of labor and the ex- 



