44 Our Field and Forest Trees 



Susquehanna and the James, the Savannah and the 

 Roanoke, take their rise. If these woods fall, 

 water from the clouds will rush down the steep 

 mountain slopes into the stream-beds, just as it 

 pours down a steep roof into a gutter. Furious 

 torrents will rage along the channels every spring, 

 carrying destruction all down the river valleys. 

 Then In times of drought the rivers will become 

 too shallow to float large boats. And thus the 

 river traffic of cities like Albany and Pittsburg 

 will be injured, and perhaps ended. 



In the West, as In the East, mountain forests 

 are the birthplaces and nurseries of rivers. The 

 evergreen woods of the Rocky Mountains give 

 rise to the streams which feed the irrigation 

 ditches watering the valley ranches. 



The ranchman's crops and his cattle are de- 

 pendent for their lives upon this water. 



All the prosperity of the country in many parts 

 of the West depends upon a certain and steady 

 flow of water from the mountain forests. And 

 both East and West the falling headwaters of 

 mountain streams mean — or they might mean — 

 power. So the prosperity, and indeed the life, 

 of the nation seem to depend at last upon the 

 woods which clothe the heights. 



The forests of the cloud-land are almost en- 

 tirely composed of fir and spruce. 



On the mountain tops of the East, firs and 

 spruces live together, close to the " timber line " 



