DISCUSSION : FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 403 
Especially’ high floods are the direct result of excessive rainfall Mr. Leighton. 
which continues after the ground has hecome saturated. In such a 
ease the forest is merely an assurance that all available ground- 
storage capacity shall be used. Therefore, the presentation of highest 
and lowest gauge heights is gratuitous. No one who has given deep con- 
sideration to the matter expects them to be productive of any definite 
conclusion. 
There is another curious errer revealed by Table 1, namely, con- 
sideration is not-given to the depth of rain that produced the high 
stages. This is an all-important element in the matter. ‘There are 
rivers in the United States in which there has been a decided diminu- 
tion in flood occurrence and flood frequency, and if these two items 
were taken alone the result would mislead. Examination of the rain- 
fall records for these river basins shows that there has been a greater 
proportionate diminution in rainfall, and especially in flood-producing 
storms, than in actual floods. Therefore, when the two are com- 
pared, it is apparent that there is an actual increase in flood tendency 
in the river. Further elucidation of this will be taken up in connec- 
tion with the Tennessee basin. 
In a foot-note on page 263 the author has approached the crux of 
the matter in some observations concerning the Ohio and Connecticut 
Rivers. Had he realized the importance of these two cases, he would 
not have relegated them to a foot-note. In contradistinction to the 
facts there given, the author asserts that there has been no change in 
forest conditions on the drainage areas mentioned during the period 
of record. Fortunately, the speaker has been able to make an examina- 
tion into the situation. Only a few days ago, he observed a large 
amount of timber-cutting taking place on the Monongahela drainage. 
Credible testimony further assures us that deforestation is still “going 
on over this basin. This is verified by the report of the Bureau of 
Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor, for 1907. Penisyl- 
vania is the ninth State in the Union in timber production, the yield 
for'1906 being valued at nearly $30 000 000. According to the Forest 
Service, the bulk of this is cut in the central and western parts of 
the State, a large amount ‘coming from the. Allegheny basin. = “" 
Again, with reference to the Connecticut drainage area, it is true 
that small timber is growing up on abandoned farms and that the total 
forest area may be as great or even greater than it- was ‘twenty years 
ago; but it is new forest, without the accumulated mulch. It will not 
render the same service to ground Storage as the primeval forest. : 
On the other hand, original timber- -cutting 1s going on. ‘One of 
the parties financially interested in Turners Falls Dam, in’ Massa- 
chuseétts, recently ‘assured the speaker that, for the past quarter of 4 
century, from 50000 000 to 80.000 000 ‘ft. b. m. of timber had been 
allowed to pass over ‘the crest thereof each year. This certainly does 
