RELATION OF FORESTS TO THE WATER SUPPLY 217 



ing vegetable matter which covers the forest floor acts more 

 or less as a sponge, and quickly absorbs falling rain and 

 melting snow. The water which thus passes into the humus 

 and the soil beneath does not remain there, but slowly seeps 

 downward, and finally after weeks and months emerges at a 

 lower level as a stream. Brooks and springs formed in this 

 way are constant feeders of rivers and lakes. 



In regions where the land has been deforested, the, rivers 

 run low in season of prolonged drought, because the water 

 which should have slowly seeped through the soil, and then 

 supplied the rivers for weeks and months, ran off from the 

 barren slopes in a few days. 



Forests not only lessen the danger of floods, but they con- 

 serve our waterways, preventing a dangerous high-water 

 mark in the season of heavy rains and melting snows, and 

 then preventing a shrinkage in dry seasons when the only 

 feeders of the rivers are the underground sources. In the 

 summer of 1911, prolonged drought in North Carolina low- 

 ered the rivers to such an extent that towns dependent upon 

 them suffered greatly. The city of Charlotte was reduced 

 for a time to a practically empty reservoir; washing and 

 bathing were eliminated, machinery dependent upon water- 

 power and steam stood idle, and every glass of water drunk 

 was carefully reckoned. Thousands of gallons of water were 

 brought in tanks from neighboring cities, and were emptied 

 into the empty reservoir from whence it -trickled slowly 

 through the city mains. The lack of water caused not only 

 personal inconvenience and business paralysis, but it occa- 

 sioned real danger of disease through unflushed sewers and 

 insufficiently drained pipes. 



The conservation of the forest means the conservation of 

 our waterways, whether these be used for transportation or 

 as sources of drinking water. 



