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of the flood waters of the streams has year by year kept pace with the 

 destruction of the wooded areas. This has been notably true of the vol- 

 ume of the different tributaries of Indian Kentucky Creek, which has come 

 more immediately under my observation. Within the last ten years these 

 streams have repeatedly had record-making floods. 



It has been estimated that, upon all the lands of the earth, some 36,- 

 000 cubic miles of water fall per year, and that of this amount some 6,000 

 cubic miles finds its way into the sea by way of the rivers and streams. 

 Thus the annual average run off from the lands is approximately 16 per 

 cent. The average "immediate run off" of such streams as obtain their 

 water supply from the hills referred to in this paper must have varied 

 enormously with the change from the completely forested condition of the 

 past to that of the present. Then, there was a universal leaf mulch, and 

 a deep, porous soil, filled with roots and decaying vegetation. As com- 

 pared to that, there is now a compact sod, a shallow and very compact 

 clay or a rock surface. The average annual "immediate run off" from 

 these streams today is at least 50 per cent greater than that from the 

 same regions under the forested conditions of the past. 



One of the most apparent consequences of the greatly increased "im- 

 mediate run off" is the gradual lowering of the ground water level in all 

 portions of the State and especially among the hills. As the ground water 

 level is lowered the flow of springs and of wells is stopped, or very much 

 reduced, in time of drouth. At no time in the history of southern Indiana 

 and northern Kentucky have springs and wells so completely failed as has 

 occurred during the season just past. Water for family use and for stock 

 has in hundreds of instances, and during many weeks, been obtained from 

 distances of one or two miles. The water supply in villages and small 

 towns became very limited or gave out entirely. In many parts of the 

 State, even at a distance from those portions having a rough topography, 

 wells are being driven to greater and greater depths in the endeavor to 

 obtain a permanent water supply for mills and factories, as well as for 

 farm animals. These unfortunate conditions may properly be attributed 

 in large part to the greater immediate run off of the rainfall resulting from 

 deforested conditions. 



That deforestation in general, and in the regions referred to in this 

 paper in particular, causes a decrease in the total precipitation can hardly 

 be doubted. The problem of the influence of forests on precipitation is 

 one not easily solved, and is one which has long troubled investigators. 



