^0 N rrEO^STAT E s 

 ^DEPARTMENT 



yi^ A'tRICULTURE 



7/ITH UlTOI^: SAM'-S ITATUMLISTS, 



!Friday> Ilovem'ber 8. 1929 , 



ITOT K}5 KT3LICA2I01T 



S-pealcirifi- Tine: 10 minijttes. 



A2J1T0IILTC5I.IIII;T5 ;■ Every tvro v/eehs at this trnc car Wilds Man tells us aoout 

 liis visits with Uncle Sain's raciiralist s . Todaj'- he will tell us -vhat Llr* 

 H. IT. i.I-'Xins, in charge qf the forest •'^xperir.ient Stations of the U. 

 Forest Service told him ahout forests and water.. 



You may have heard of the nan Tiio coulda''t see the forest for 

 the trees,. There seen to "be a lot of follcs like tliat,, They seem to 

 thihir a forest is sii^Tply a group of trees occupj^'ing a piece of land. They 

 seem to thinlc the only value of the forest is for the lumoer it virill 

 produce or may'bie because it is pretty to look at,. 



Sut if you could talk with I.'ir .Stli.i'Iuri.ns.,. tn charge of, t^io Tor jst 

 Experiment Stations of the United States Forest Service,, you "Tould soon 

 realize a forest is more thejL that.. There are the trees. There too is 

 the undergrowth and the animals and oirds and fish that live in the forests- 

 Then there are the leaves, and little twigs, and all the little animals 

 and insects which live on the forest floor. They are all part of the forest, 

 as I.Ir, Ilunns sees it. Each pa^rt is dependent upon other parts and all 

 those parts form a living unit.. 



riovv'ever, we axe not going into all those comolex relationships. 



Let's stick close to the floor the forest floor.. As we stroll along 



and jcick through the leaves and litter, let I'/Ir.. Munns point out to us 



how that forest litter affects the lives of the little animals in the forest- 



and the lives of a lot of those of us not near the forest,, 



But most of us have noticed at one time or another, that forest 

 litter is often moist. Fact is, that is one of the "best things forest 

 litter does; it holds water. 



That is important to the earthv/orms. It keeps the soil moist, so 

 the earthworms can live and work. They keep the soil porous.. Tho-t in 

 t-arn, lets more water sinlc into the gro^.uad to oe used as needed, instead 

 of rij^ming off where it will do more dama.ge than good» ■ 



Of course, that forest litter is important tothe small forms of 

 Y;ild life such as snakes, and mice and the like which live and move and 



