FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 329 



down from bare, eroded hillsides. Even now, the sediment from the denuded uplands 

 fills the river channels to such an extent that the government has to expend thousands 

 of dollars annually for its removal. 



There are well attested instances of large springs, situated near the foot of some 

 hill or mountain, which dried up and ceased to flow soon after the removal of 

 neighboring woods, but which, in after years, resumed their flow when the 

 forests were restored. 



In our own State there are many streams which in summer contain no water, which 

 then can be crossed dry shod ; and yet there are people living who remember the 

 years when these streams never ran dry, and that these water courses never failed 

 until after the forests which protected their headwaters were cut down and the 

 land cleared. 



The volume of water in the Upper Hudson has been continually diminishing until 

 it can scarcely supply the Champlain Canal during a dry season. In 1883 all the water 

 in the Hudson at the Glens Falls Feeder was turned into the canal, and then there was 

 barely sufficient water for navigation. 



The Mohawk River for many years supplied the Erie Canal with water at Rome; 

 but with the rapid removal of the forests on that watershed it failed to yield a 

 proper supply, whereupon the Black River, which empties into Lake Ontario, was 

 tapped at Forestport, and its entire flow at that point was diverted southward to 

 supply the deficiency. 



There are several streams in New York which once furnished abundant water- 

 power for mills that occupied sites upon their banks, but which have decreased so 

 greatly in volume and regular flow that these mills have been abandoned and are 

 falling from decay. 



It is not claimed that forests will increase rainfall ; but they do conserve moisture 

 and retard evaporation. If they were destroyed the rainfall would probably continue 

 the same, but the flow of the streams would be more irregular. The water would run 

 off quickly instead of slowly as before. Floods would be more frequent and violent, 

 while in turn, the droughts would be more prolonged and severe. 



Forests exert locally a favorable influence on climatic conditions. They form 

 shelter belts that intercept cold and violent winds, thereby promoting agricultural 

 interests, and modifying rigorous weather. By the transpiration of moisture the trees 

 help to create the humid atmosphere which in turn waters" the farm. In many 

 localities the disappearance of the forests has been marked by a failure of fruit and 

 other crops which hitherto were plentiful and unfailing. As a further result, the 

 winters are colder, and the summers are hotter; the changes in temperature are more 



