492 ‘DISCUSSION: FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 
Mr. Chitten- forests of the Pacific Coast intensify floods, and asks, “Would it not be 
den. more correct to say that * * * even in densely forested areas there 
may be tremendous floods?” No, that would not define the situation, at 
all. .The fact is that we have here, as stated in the paper, “the 
densest forests in the world, the deepest beds of humus, and the most 
perfect reservoir effect so long as it is in action.” In building a road 
into the Mount Rainier National Park, the writer found that the clear- 
ing away of the débris which covers the soil was in many places the 
heaviest item-of the work. It is often 2 and 3 ft. thick. If there is 
anything in the forestry theory, we should find it more fully exempli- 
fied. here than anywhere else. Yet the contrary is the case, and the 
writer believes it to be strictly a true statement that freshets are more 
sudden and violent, and caused by smaller rains, than in the culti- 
vated sections of our Eastern States. It was a great surprise to him’ 
to learn this fact; but the explanation now seems to him very obvious. 
The snow and the subsequent warm rains have the effect of bringing 
two storms together. The forests enhance this effect by distributing 
the snow so that a vastly greater area is exposed to the melting influ- 
ences than would otherwise be the case. 
To show how strikingly true this is, the records of the flood of No- 
vember; 1906, on Cedar River are given in Table 22. This is an im- 
portant stream, though a small one, for it furnishes the water supply 
for the City of Seattle, and its water-shed is to be thoroughly pro- 
tected and its records carefully kept. Table 22 gives the record for 
November 12th to 18th, 1906: 
TABLE 22. 
. RaINFALL, 
Discharge of 
Date. Temperature. Sane Cedar River. 
* Inches. per second. 
Nov. 12th.. 50° 1.34 5 027 1430 
13th... 56° 2.12 7 992 3 028 
“14th, . 60° 1,15 4 335 7610 
“  15th.. 55° 2.26 8 483 10 800 
‘ 16th... 44° 0.07 254 6 930 
“17th... 44° 0.07 254 38 610 
18th 50° 0.00 0 2 380 
The area of the water-shed is 143 sq. miles, and the maximum flow 
in this flood was therefore about 75 cu. ft. per sec. per sq. mile. The 
distance to the gauging station from the center of the water-shed is 
about 12 miles, and it is probable that the run-off, as measured, all 
originated within the previous 24 hours. Comparing the rainfall of 
the four days, 12th to 15th, with the run-off for the four days, 13th to 
16th, it appears that the run-off exceeded the rainfall by 632 cu. ft. 
per sec., or about 220 000 000 cu. ft. for the four days. The discharge 
