1010 



Canadian Forestry Journal, March, 1917 



exercises an important influence on interests of this magnitudejs unquestion- 

 ably deserving of the most careful consideration. 



What Becomes of The RainfalP. 

 When the Pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 they found 

 the new continent clothed with an almost unbroken expanse of virgin forest. 

 Cool springs were abundant, streams ran clear, and excessive erosion had not 

 left its mark upon the land. The geologic processes of land sculpture which 

 have been going on since time immemorial were of course at work carving 

 out the hills and valleys. Every year the soil on the steeper slopes was creep- 

 ing a little farther on its way to the sea; every year there was some change, 

 however imperceptible, in the appearance of mother earth. At the same 

 time another process was going on. Rocks were being decomposed and trans- 

 formed into soil. This second process, though it, too, was slow, was in most 

 places proceeding faster than the other. Soils were being formed_more rap- 



"KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE ' 

 A piece of 'agricultural land' in Ouebeci which the settler abandoned afterj^destroying the only 

 natural crop — timber. 



idly than they were removed, and the basis for the future farms of the country 

 was gradually being built up. Such soil as was washed away consisted of 

 the lighter particles, much of which, being deposited fartherf'dovn in the 

 more level portions of the streams, helped to build up the[ fertile alluvial 

 plains. The entire action of nature was benefic'al, rather^than destructive. 



An Enormous Vegetable Sponge 

 Everyone who has been in a dense forest during a heavy storm knows 

 how thoroughly it protects the soil and stores the water. The force of the 

 rain is broken by the trees, the underbrush, and the litter on the ground, so 

 that it does not beat upon the soil. Much of the precipitation reaches the 

 earth by running down the twigs and branches. In a light shower nearly 

 all of the rain may be intercepted by the leaves of the trees, so'that one can 

 stand in the forest without getting wet. Even in a heavy rain the water 

 drips down so quietly as to have practically no beating effectfupon the soil. 

 There is no perceptible surface run-off until great quantities ofjrain have 

 fallen. Instead, the water is soaked up by the organicf matter, or humus, 

 in the upper layers of the soil. This is really an enormous vegetable sponge 



