11/8/29 



haVe'Thfiir teing on thi foi:'est floor. And whatever we may tliirik of such 

 animals pSl'sbnallyi Vtj^ kll reodgriiie with l/iri Mtuins that they all play 

 a part in the gre&t "^klaiibe of ^atUrfei 



The forest litter also actb afe a filtei^ for the water that 

 percolates through it. 'That is why forest streams are normally so 

 clear. . And you fishermen may know what that mbans* Ifexty of our food 

 and game fish have to have clear water for their hest development. The 

 fry won't thrive or the eggs don't hatch y/hen the watfer is muddy j as it 

 often gets when the forest litter is destroyed "by overgrazing or hy 

 forest fires. 



And even a few degrees /in the temperature of water is often 

 enough to kill fry and eggs of fish such as the pickerel and others, . 

 The density of the forest and the gradual feeding of .moistujre into the 

 soil ke*pevkeep;the water cool. But where there is no cover, the water 

 is warmer. i»Ir, .Munns holds that the increase in water -temperature is 

 responsihle for the disappearance of several kinds of fish from lalces fed 

 "by streams formerly protected by forests. 



But our I^iday menu is merely one of the minor things affected "by 

 changes in the wat er -^holding capacitj?- of the forests. . Porest litter 

 prolDably plays itmoT>t iirportant role in helping control floods and 

 preventing erosion. 



Of course, it has long "been recognized that forest litter slows 

 down the r^jn-off and prevents soil washing. But when the scientists 

 commenced figuring they could not explain why there should be such a big 

 difference between the amount of rion-off from bare slopes and covered 

 slopes. • Experiments showed another secret of the water absorbing power of 

 soils covered with litter. 



It was found that maddy water seals up the soil pores over which 

 it -passes, ■.. Water filtered through the leaves and the like, which form 

 the forest litter, is able to sink into the soil much more readily. , It 

 kept clean and does not clog, , 



In fact results of these exper im.ents , made in California, indicate 

 that the litter is the most important part of the forest in determining 

 how much water runs off and how much seeps in. 



That shows how fires may cause floods, IFire s eating along the 

 forest floor destroy the litter and with it much- of the water-holding, 

 flood-reducing capacity of the forest. Studies at the Southern !Forest 

 Experiment Station, for instance, showed that in burned forests long leaf 

 pine litter had an average depth of only one inch, whereas in the unburned 

 forest the litter was two inches deep. . But the effect on the v/ater-holding 

 capacity of the forest was much more than that, . Two inches of forest litter 

 holds eight times as much water as one inch holds, .Similar results have 

 been io"und with other kinds of forests, .. 



