24 COMMEKCIAL IMPOETANCE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN FORESTS. 



feet; Mooselookmeguntic, 18 feet; and Rangeley Lake, 3 feet. The 

 now of the Androscoggin therefore is both powerful and steady. The 

 Rangeley Lakes are about 1,500 feet above the sea, giving ample fall 

 to a vast quantity of water. 



The total drainage area of the Androscoggin includes 3,700 square 

 miles. A portion of the water in this river comes through the Peabody 

 River directly from the highest of the White Mountains, including the 

 Presidential and Carter-Moriah ranges. The edge of its watershed in 

 this part has an elevation averaging 4,000 feet. In this vicinity the 

 commercial spruce forest has been largely removed by the clean 

 cutting method. The sources of the Magalloway River, the main 

 tributary of the Androscoggin, lie about half in New Hampshire 

 and half in Maine, in the mountains that form a part of the White 

 Mountain system, north of the Presidential Range. The dense forest 

 cover of this drainage area contains several townships that have been 

 lumbered conservatively by the large companies, such as the Gilman- 

 ton and Atkinson Academy grant, which is in good condition , for 

 future growth, though recently lumbered. Here also lies the Dart- 

 mouth College grant, a tract of 26,000 acres, which the college has 

 put under forest management. North of these two tracts, and almost 

 in the upper corner of New Hampshire, occurs the most extensive 

 virgin spruce forest that remains in the White Mountain region. 



The water powers of the Androscoggin have been most extensively 

 developed at Berlin, N. H., and at Rumford Falls, Livermore Falls, 

 Lewiston, and Brunswick, Me. The dam at Errol and several of the 

 important powers are controlled by the Union Water Power Com- 

 pany, an old and well-established corporation. Great drives of spruce, 

 estimated at more than 100,000,000 board feet, come down the Andro- 

 scoggin annually. At Berlin the river falls about 200 feet in 1 mile; 

 at Rumford Falls, 177 feet. The latter has the better water power 

 of the two, though both are among the best in New England. 



At Brunswick, Lewiston, Livermore Falls, and several intervening 

 points, extensive use is made of the water powers, and the range of 

 manufacture is wide, including 8 cotton factories, 7 paper and pulp 

 mills, 2 electric lighting plants, sawmills, gristmills, wood-working 

 factories, and others, using altogether about 30,000 horsepower. 



The great possibilities of the Androscoggin as a power stream are 

 shown in comparison with the power values of the Merrimac, already 

 world famous for its manufactures dependent on stream now. a 



Merrimac River. — In the total length of the Merrimac River from Newburyport to 

 Franklin, a distance of 110 miles, there is a fall of 269 feet. Of this amount 185 feet is 

 developed, representing approximately 50,000 net horsepower. Of the remaining 84 



a In comparing the Merrimac and Androscoggin, it must be kept in mind that the 



Merrimac has a larger number and more important tributaries than the Androscoggin 



and for this reason the difference in power might not be quite as great as shown. This 



comparison has been prepared by Mr. H. K. Barrows, of Boston. 



[Cir. 168] 



