﻿180 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  1893, 
  primeval 
  forest, 
  while 
  the 
  balance 
  was 
  largely 
  lumbered 
  

   forest 
  — 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  forest 
  with 
  the 
  soft 
  woods 
  removed. 
  Prob- 
  

   ably 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  primeval 
  forest 
  is 
  somewhat 
  smaller 
  at 
  the 
  

   present 
  time, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  taken 
  at 
  50 
  per 
  cent. 
  For 
  the 
  whole 
  

   4387 
  square 
  miles, 
  we 
  may 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  forest 
  protection 
  is 
  now 
  

   equivalent 
  to 
  SV 
  2 
  inches 
  additional 
  runoff 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  cover. 
  If, 
  

   therefore, 
  the 
  entire 
  Adirondack 
  park 
  were 
  reforested 
  with 
  dense 
  

   primeval 
  forests, 
  we 
  might 
  expect 
  an 
  addition 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  and 
  a 
  

   half 
  per 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  runoff 
  from 
  this 
  area. 
  

  

  On 
  reference 
  to 
  table 
  No. 
  61, 
  Runoff 
  Data 
  of 
  Hudson 
  River 
  for 
  

   the 
  Water 
  Years 
  1888-1901, 
  Inclusive, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  

   average 
  runoff 
  per 
  year 
  for 
  fourteen 
  years 
  is 
  23.27 
  inches. 
  The 
  

   maximum 
  runoff, 
  of 
  33.08 
  inches, 
  occurred 
  in 
  1892, 
  and 
  the 
  mini- 
  

   mum, 
  of 
  17.46 
  inches, 
  in 
  1895. 
  With 
  dense, 
  primeval 
  forests 
  over 
  

   the 
  entire 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  park 
  we 
  may 
  expect 
  an 
  average 
  

   of 
  about 
  24.75 
  inches 
  annual 
  runoff, 
  or 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  about 
  6% 
  

   per 
  cent 
  over 
  the 
  present 
  runoff 
  — 
  an 
  amount 
  of 
  water 
  which, 
  dis- 
  

   tributed 
  over 
  the 
  entire 
  year, 
  as 
  it 
  will 
  be, 
  is 
  inappreciable 
  in 
  its 
  

   influence 
  on 
  the 
  flow 
  of 
  streams. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Catskill 
  region 
  the 
  soft 
  woods 
  have 
  long 
  since 
  disap- 
  

   peared 
  and 
  the 
  hard-wood 
  forest 
  is 
  mostly 
  open, 
  presenting 
  less 
  

   satisfactory 
  protection 
  than 
  does 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  hard-wood 
  

   forest. 
  It 
  is 
  doubtful 
  if 
  the 
  open 
  hard-wood 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  Cats- 
  

   kill 
  region 
  are 
  equivalent, 
  in 
  protective 
  effect, 
  to 
  over 
  25 
  per 
  cent 
  

   to 
  30 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  a 
  dense, 
  primeval 
  forest 
  of 
  spruce, 
  pine, 
  balsam 
  

   and 
  hemlock, 
  or 
  we 
  may 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  present 
  runoff 
  of 
  the 
  Cats- 
  

   kill 
  streams 
  is 
  only 
  an 
  inch 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  more 
  than 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  

   if 
  the 
  region 
  were 
  substantially 
  deforested. 
  The 
  effect, 
  therefore, 
  

   of 
  reforesting 
  with 
  soft 
  woods 
  would 
  be 
  to 
  increase 
  the 
  flow 
  of 
  

   streams 
  annually 
  about 
  Sy 
  2 
  inches 
  in 
  depth 
  over 
  the 
  area 
  actually 
  

   reforested. 
  But 
  the 
  reforested 
  area 
  is 
  so 
  small 
  a 
  proportion 
  of 
  

   the 
  whole 
  area 
  that 
  the 
  total 
  effect 
  on 
  the 
  flow 
  of 
  any 
  given 
  stream 
  

   is 
  so 
  slight 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  scarcely 
  perceptible. 
  This 
  proposition 
  is 
  reit- 
  

   erated 
  because 
  in 
  the 
  extensive 
  discussions 
  of 
  this 
  question 
  which 
  

   have 
  recently 
  appeared 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  tacitly 
  assumed 
  that 
  the 
  refor- 
  

   estation 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  park 
  would 
  have 
  so 
  great 
  an 
  effect 
  on 
  

  

  