436 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
and hold it. You have appropriated extensively to build dams to hold 
water, but our proposition antedates the dam. 
The mountain should hold the water. If you take the woods away 
from the mountain the water never gets into it and the capacity of the 
mountain to hold water is destroyed—you can not get the water in 
there. If you have woods over a mountain they admit the water; the 
ferns, the mosses, etc., hold the rains until they percolate into the 
hills, and then they keep coming all the summer in rills and springs, 
and so forth, and you can get the use of them. Now, we are studying 
these matters all along the line. Weare studying the forest reserve— 
some seventy millions of acres. There is a proposition pending, I 
believe, in Congress in regard to the question of turning the scientific 
study of those reserves over to my Department. I do not meddle with 
legislation. You never found me here lobbying. 
But there are no scientific foresters in the Interior Department. 
They do not pretend to be. It is an awkward thing to carry on the 
scientific study of forests that are altogether under the jurisdiction of 
another department. However, we do the bestthat can be done. The 
Secretary of the Interior and I agree that the Department of Agricul- 
ture would more economically and effectively study the problems if we 
controlled the whole situation. But that is a matter for you to 
determine. 
Mr. Bowrz. You would recommend, Mr. Secretary, that the for- 
estry department in the Department of the Interior be transferred, 
and that also is recommended by the Secretary of the Interior? 
Secretary Wiuson. Yes; that ought to be done; it will be done some 
day, without question. 
Mr. Brooxs. Would there be economy if they were consolidated / 
Secretary Witson. Yes; there would be economy. 
The Cuarrman. There is some gentleman in the House opposing 
that bill on the ground that there would be a larger expenditure. 
wish you would say something for the record here that I may quote 
to Mr. Cannon and Mr. Hemenway. 
Secretary Witson. There is certain work to do in the study of 
forestry. There are 500 rangers taking care of those forests. We 
have nothing to do with them. We do not grasp at added authority 
for our Department but, if we are studying, through these 200 edu- 
cated foresters in our Department, those forest reserves, we can tell 
how many men we need and how many we can dispense with, and the 
character of the men we should have, much better than some other 
department that is not studying our problems at all. 
Mr. Bowrg. And has not the scientific experts that you have? 
Secretary Wriison. And does not pretend to have the scientific 
experts that we have. 
Mr. Brooxs. Might not a part of the work which the Interior 
Department rangers are now doing be done by the same men who are 
carrying on the scientific investigations in your Department? 
Secretary Wixson. There will be a great saving in supervision; there 
is no question about that. This only comes up incidentally; I am not 
lobbying here for that. 
The Cuarrman. If I may say, I think the bill is going to pass, with- 
out doubt; and the little opposition left is on the ground only that it 
will materially increase the expense of the management of these forest 
reserves 
