80 JAMESTOWN CONGRESS OF HORTICULTURE 



try from this time on will stand in greatest need. There is no question 

 but that with right management the Appalachian Mountains would 

 produce permanently 75 per cent of the hardwood timber required in 

 the United States. 



The need of Appalachian forest reserves from the standpoint of 

 hardwood timber supply is a great national need, affecting directly all 

 the people of the United States. 



IMPORTANT FOR STREAM PROTECTION. 



The number of important rivers which rise in the Appalachians 



far exceeds those which have their source in the western mountains, 

 and they directly affect the welfare of a vastly greater number of peo- 

 ple. As the forests have been cleared from the mountains everywhere 

 in the Appalachians, the extremes of high and low water have been 

 increased, water powers have decreased in efficiency, mountain slopes 

 have been eroded, and the sediment has tilled the streams and harbors 

 below, navigation has been retarded, and property along the streams 

 has suffered damage from the increased Hoods. It is difficult to realize 

 the damage which is possible in these directions. The United States 

 Weather Uureau made a ran- ful estimate of the damage along the Ohio 

 River in the tloods of January and March of this year, and found that 

 the properly loss, not including damage to soil and river channel, 

 amounted to $<),.)()(),()()(). To this must be added also the loss of time, 

 which in itself would amount to millions, and the depreciation of 

 rentals, which in J'ittsburg alone has amounted to a huge sum. Taken 

 together, this represents but the loss during three months in two tribu- 

 taries of the Ohio River. It is but little compared with the losses we 

 must expect over the whole region if the mountains are not kept under 

 forest. 



Correspondingly great will be the gain to our industries if the 

 nation does hold these mountains for purposes for which Nature in- 

 tended them. 



A NUMBER OF APPALACHIAN FORESTS NECESSARY. 



How extensive and where the Appalachian forests will have to be, 

 no one knows at present. Acting under instructions from Congress, 

 the Forest Service is now preparing a report in which these points 

 will be covered. This report will be submitted at the next session of 

 Congress. 



To protect the important watersheds there must be, not one great 

 area in some particular part of the mountains, leaving other sections 

 unprotected, but a number of areas, each large enough and properly 

 located to protect one or more important streams. Such reserves 

 would have to be irregular in outline, and would frequently be discon- 

 nected. While serving for the protection of streams they would also 

 improve the timber supply. The fact that they may be scattered would 

 also be of advantage in that the timber could more readily be distrib- 

 uted from them. 



