marvellous lot of flowing water. We have more 
water going to waste in Canada than would drive 
every factory wheel on the continent. But the 
moment we say that we are heading straight into the 
forest again, for without living trees on the thous¬ 
ands of hills and valleys that act as “watersheds/’ 
the muscular power of most rivers would be worse 
than useless. Engineers will tell you that “forests 
regulate stream flow.” They mean that the porous 
mass of needles, twigs, leaves and mosses in various 
stages of decay forms a great reservoir ready to 
absorb endless tons of water that come from the 
melting snows and heavy rains of Spring. Where 
a river is fed by streams that take their source in 
wooded areas, the surplus waters of the winter 
break-up are held in reserve and liberated very 
gently and regularly throughout the entire year. 
Burn down or hack down the greater part of tree 
life on “watersheds” and the spring snows and rains 
having no natural reservoir to lodge in, tumble pell 
mell down the hillsides into the streams and rush off 
at deadly speed to the bigger rivers, carrying dis¬ 
aster in their wake. A river without forests to back 
it up acts as freakish as an unbroken colt and is a 
source of danger instead of comfort. Nature knew 
her business when she designed the forests as the 
guardians of streams. We thoughtless Canadians 
have upset her wise arrangements in every province 
and we pay for it in the terrible losses every year 
connected with spring floods and summer droughts. 
What is Our Biggest Business? 
Providing cheap and plentiful power for running 
our factories and equipping our homes is, of course, 
just one of the things that the forests do for us. 
Only a small percentage of our tree growth need be 
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