July. 1913 



Woodlands and Water 

 SuppJy. 



The popular iik-a that extensive 

 woodlands have a benetioial efleet 

 upon th« water supphy of a locali- 

 ty has its basis in established fact, 

 though the acttial reason for this 

 inthience does not appear to be 

 generally understood. A mote on 

 the conclusions arrived at in this 

 connection at Forest Experiment 

 Stations of Germany, Austria, and 

 France may therefore be interest- 

 ing. 



Brielly, it may be stated that 

 the real efiect of w oodlands in this 

 direction, as opposed to deforested 

 areas, does, not so much consist in 

 bringing about an increase in the 

 actual amount of rainfall experi- 

 enced, as in economising the nor- 

 mal supply, and (in modifying the 

 agencies which tend to allow the 

 rainfall to waste by evaporation or 

 percolation. It is true that if 

 very extensive areas were planted 

 UP, somje small increase in precipi- 

 tation might, after a time, be 

 noticed, which would be due to 

 the reduction of temperature asso- 

 ciated with forests, and to the 

 greater absolute and relative hu- 

 midity of the air within the wood- 

 ed area. 



It I appears more reasonable to 

 conclude that, \in the majority ol 

 cases, the amount of rain that 

 reaches the ground is — generally 

 slightly, but sometimes more ap- 

 precialjly — diminished over thickly 

 wiQoded areas as compared with the 

 open country. This is due to the 

 thick canopy of leaves which inter- 

 cepts -a proportion 'of the rainfall; 

 that is afterwards rapidly eva- 

 porated. In this connection, how- 

 ever, much depends on the nature 

 of the rainfall. In a district en- 

 jopng a high annual precipitation, 

 the proportion thus intercepted is 

 smaller than in localities where the 

 rainfall is light. . The same is true 

 of heavy and long-continued rain as 

 contrasted with g^entle showers. In 

 the latter case, indeed, little of the 

 moisture reaches the ground a1^ all- 



Observations have clearly shown, 

 that although less rain reaches the 

 surface of the soil lu woodlands 

 than in open country, yet this 

 small quantity is better conserved. 

 Forest soils are generally found to 

 contain a large amount of m.ois- 

 ture (in comparison with field soils 

 in the neighbourhood'). There are 

 several reasons which account for 

 this, the. chief of which are the re- 

 duction of evaporation — ^owing to 

 the exclusion of the sun's rays by 



THE CAIx'DFA' AND FIELD. 



the foliage, parti} to the air In a 

 forest being more humid — as ,a re- 

 sult of which evaporation is again 

 checked, and partly to the, ab.sorb- 

 ent and retentive character of the 

 decaying vegetable matter that 

 covers the ground of a (licn.se and 

 well-managed wood. It may be 

 pointed out, too, that the rapid 

 surface-llow of water which occurs 

 on sloping land in t'ae open, after 

 heaVy rain is checked in vvoodTands 

 by the frequently occurring tree 

 roots. 



Another agency which assists in 

 increasing the moisture-retaining 

 properties of forest lands is the 

 lightening and opening iulluenee ex- 

 ercised by tree roots on the soil. 

 These penetrate to a considerable 

 depth, and when they die they 

 leave large holes through which 

 water readily percolates from 'the 

 surface. This percolation of mois- 

 ture' into the ground is facilitated 

 by the loose and friable condition 

 of the surface soil beneath the 

 trees, as compared with the denser 

 and more compact character of 

 land in the open. The conse- 

 quence is thaf streams in a wood- 

 ed coimtry are not so subject to 

 rapid rises and falls, the flow be- 

 ing maintained more equably 

 throughout the year. — Agricultural 

 News. 



'. — 4 



Horns. 



of what use are the horns of 

 the dairy cow ? To the wild ani- 

 mal, of course, they are indis- 

 pensable as a means of defence, 

 but on the domesticated cow they 



f.47 



COOPER'S 



STOUT. 



Full-bodied and Nourishing', is 

 taking- the place of Imported Stout 



Recommended by Doctors. 



Write to— 



Thos. COOPER & SONS 

 Upper Kensington. 



are danger. " You may get your 

 ev^e poked out when you tie the 

 animal up in the stall, while she 

 is certain to try and rip up her 

 neighbour whenever she gets a 

 chance. There would be fewer 

 torn hides and ruined milk-bags if 

 the horns were absent, or at least 

 rounded, like those of the Jersey 

 breed. 1 am, therefore, a great 

 advocate of having polled cows as 

 much as possible, thought outside 

 the Red I'oUs I do not know where 

 we are to get them. . . . As 

 a matter of descent, many of our 

 breeds — the Shorthorn and the Ayr- 

 shire, for instance — had originally 

 horns similar to those of the Jer- 

 sey, and the wide or straight ot 

 upstanding horns we now see are 

 the result of senseless showyard 

 fads. If we want really to im- 

 prove the utility and hardiness of 

 our animals, we shall return to the 

 old form." — Exchange. 



♦ 



Horses breed slower than any 

 other kind of domestic stock, so it 

 is imevitable that progress towards 

 superiority should be gradual. 



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