April 10, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



547 



wliicli covers the grouud in manj^ parts of 

 the Eastern States that no one imagined that 

 conditions existed elsewhere which would 

 produce entirely different results. The 

 building of long lines of railroads and the 

 opening up of mines have led to the cut- 

 ting off to the very ground, of extensive 

 tracts of timber, and the effect upon local 

 streams has forced observing people upon 

 the spot to the conclusion that nature has 

 surer and wiser methods than she has been 

 given credit for. That she has storage fa- 

 cilities among the mountain tops, capable 

 of resisting the attacks of anj^ human van- 

 dals and that the fountains of her rivers 

 will be preserved to send down the precious 

 floods throughout all future time, regard- 

 less of what man may say or man may do. 

 Any discussion of such a question among 

 those who have looked at it from any cer- 

 tain standpoint will be met by the sugges- 

 tion that close measurements extending 

 over long periods of time and covering 

 widely separated points will be necessary 

 in order to prove anything, but the ques- 

 tion whether snow lasts longer before or 

 after the timber is removed can be con- 

 sidered without going into aay of the diffi- 

 cult theories as to whether the fall of mois- 

 ture is or is not affected by trees. In all 

 such things a great many small considera- 

 tions go to make up the great answer. 

 Scientists point to a whole list of phe- 

 nomena each one of which, by itself, would 

 hardly have been felt, but each supporting 

 all the rest and all coming together, pro- 

 duced the glacial age, and they say that 

 when they all drop in together again at anj^ 

 future time, the result will be the same and 

 miles of ice will pile up on the surface oi 

 the earth. In a small way the same is true 

 in meteorology, and it is with an effort to 

 give to each its due weight that I endeavor 

 to point out some of the reasons why manj^ 

 close observers, after long years of study, 

 have been led to believe that if there is any 



difference in the flow of streams and the 

 size of springs before and after the trees 

 are cut from above them, the balance is in 

 favor of the open country. 



That water which drops on shaded ground 

 'which is thickly overspread with spongy 

 leaves and the air so near the dew point 

 that it cannot absorb much more moisture 

 should be held back, while that coming- 

 down on open ground should run off 

 quickly, seems very natural, but in high 

 mountain regions there are peculiar combi- 

 nations which do much to modify the ac- 

 tion of the law. The pine and the fir are 

 the only trees found growing at high alti- 

 tudes in any abundance, and their thin 

 needles do not make the heavy shade when 

 on the tree, nor the thick mat when lying 

 on the ground, that the broad leav.es of the 

 oak, beech and maple do. Instead of form- 

 ing a spongy layer five or six inches thick, 

 they are swept about by the wind and it is 

 not unusual to see the ground bare under 

 the trees and all the needles lodged some- 

 where in drifts. Even when they lie where 

 they fall the coating is comparatively worth- 

 less so far as retaining moisture is concerned. 



On the other hand, the foliage on this 

 class of trees being as heavy in winter as in 

 summer, the branches catch an immense 

 amount of the falling snow and hold it up 

 in mid-air for both sun and air to work 

 upon, and only those who have had ex- 

 perience of the absorbing power of the dry 

 mountain air can form any idea of the loss 

 from that source. Such as is melted falls 

 upon that beneath, and breaking the sur- 

 face sets in operation the forces which are 

 always ready to attack such substances. 

 The theory that the shade protects the 

 moisture laden soil means but little in 

 such places. The law is doubtless in force 

 with more or less strength wherever moist- 

 ure falls and plants grow, but the class of 

 trees that thrive here require a loose, 

 sandj'^ soil, and are often seen growing 



