Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-10-05

the prairie States OF the West and
Northwest. The arguments used arc
usually sucha as may be used in the
question: What shall We do for fuel,
for fences, for ships, for building ma
terial, for railroad ties, and for the in
Vulnerable industries of which wood
forms a part, when our forescs have
entirely disappeared? For all these
purposes it is probable that some sub
stitute may be found. But there are
other uses for our forest trees, and for
which nothing else can take their
place. Important, possibly most i'm
portant, among these is the influence
of forests, and the effect Of their re-
moval, upon water courses, such as
lakes, rivers, creeks and brooks, and
also upon springs and wells.
Trees during a rain storm retain a
vast quantity of water. Fantrat
found that tho soil covered with
forests received six. tenths of the whole
rainfall, the trees having intercepted
four-tenths. The proportion, how
ever, will vary, depending upon the
character Of the foliage and the near
ness OF the trees to each other.
Besides, what is retained by the
branches and leaves, the roots, by
keeping the soil around them loosened,
induce the speedy absorption of the
larger part of the rain which reaches
the ground, and much Of which, but
for the trees and their effect upon the
soil, would Immediately flow away.
The foliage of the trees by partially
or wholly excluding the suns rays,
prevents, in a large degree, the
evaporation Of the water in the soil,
which in a t~reeless region soon renders
the ground as destitute of moisture as
though no rain had fallen.
By the absorption of the rain as it
falls, the flooding of the streams is
largely prevented; and by retaining
the water in this natural reservoir,
and allowing it to flow of gradually,
the streams are supplied with water
continuously. 1t can safely be said
that no stream having its source near
a tract Of forest has ever ceased to
flow.
In the early history Of the Eastern
and Middle States, a farm was re-
garded as lacking in an essential fea-
,Iture if there was no spring upon it,
and the farmers wife would as much
expect to do without milk pans as to
do without a spring house. But now
a spring house is a rare sight. When
the pioneers settled these lands, they
were covered with forests, and the
first and most important work OF the
, new settler was to cut away the tim
Der, in order TO get land upon which
to raise food for himself and family
! For many years there was, of course
no apparent effect upon the watel
courses; but as the number Of settler
increased and the amount of fores
land decreased, the springs began t
{ dry up, and with them the brooks
creeks and smaller rivers.
|, 1t is not unusual to find in many
localities the beds Of what were ono
J important mill streams waterless, ex
cept when filed by sudden freshets
! and in this state certain stream
! emptying into the lake, which wei,
I. once declared navigable, will not nov
float a n
. The mountains are natural fores
lands, and up to a certain elevation
should be pertetually covered viii
: trees. To settlers living at the base 0
> mountains, the forest trees are of in.
calculabIe value, for by excluding thu
sun they p%rolong the melting of the
, SHOWS, absorb a large percentage o.
that which has melted, prevent i
flowing off in a food, and ~earryinl
death and destruction to all that ma
y lie in its track. And the fallen tree.
and branches, the underground, the
MOSES and other heritage among tn,
i d~ecaying leaves, and the millions o
! leaves break the force of the falling
rains. which come quietly to the eartl
and sink into the soil until they reacl
internal cavities or porous strata, from
which they are gradually distille,
through perennial springs, that keel
, up a constant and regular supply 70.
, the streams.