New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-08
THE EUROPEAN FLOODS.

The foods which for several months have
been drowning various parts of Europe have
been unprecedented in volume and destruc-
tiyeness. The devastation began In Lombardy
where the plains are overlooked nearly every
wear since the southern slopes of the Alps
have been stripped of protecting forests
The streams which head in the Apennines also
swell into torrents every season, and Govern
ment engineers find occasion to use all their
skill in building bikes and opening artificial
channels. But the problem grows more dill
cult every year as the mountain slopes are
quilted out and the river beds filled up. The
Pc has gradually been lifted up above the
plain, and broken dixie, even when the
water is low, will turn miles of cultivated fields
into one vast lake. During the autumn, rains
were unusually abundant, and structures which
had stood for centuries were torn away by the
rushing water. The peril of drowning was
followed by fears of starvation from the de-
stIuction of the crops. A deposit of stones
and mud, in many places a foot thick, was
spread over miles of farms and gardens, con-
verting fertile fields into barren wastes.
This devastation was repeated later in
France and Austria, and now from the valley
of the Rhine come tidings of a destruction
more sweeping and distress unprecedented.
The most alarming consideration in the case
is that each food makes the next one easier.
Every freshet lays bare a larger area of rock
upon the mountain slopes. The soil remaining
grows thinner and less absOrptiyc and the
water will continue TO flow down more swiftly
until the thin skin of earth is stripped clean
from the rock skeleton Of the mountains, just
as the white bones of the hills of Palestine
now glitter in the hot sun where the slopes
were once clad with olive groves and vine
yards. The degradation goes steadily forward.
The everlasting hills" crumble into powder
and are swept down to build up new plains,
Just as the Alps themselves have been built
from the destruction of older mountains. The
only safeguard against this sudden and dam
gorous disintegratiOn is growth of old forest
on the mountains. This is well known
in Europe, and the various governments have
planted hundreds of square miles of trees foT
this very purpose. But the remedy was not
begun early enough. 1t Will require centuries
to cothe the Alps as they once were clad-for
it is not trees only that are needed but the
thick coating of leaf mould and other porous
IldlltI Which, up Ahp lam VI ihtitlhb
snow and delivers it slowly to the deep rcser-
voirs and fountains of the springs.
In The seventh report of the Adirondack sur
yey it is stated that the duff" in the spruce
woods of that region is often four feet thick.
This "duff" is composed of dccayed wood,
bark, needles, cones and mosscs, and holds
water like sponge. The valley of the Rhine
would not be filed with water to-day if a
coating Of "duff" three or four feet thick
were spread over the slopes drained by its
tributaries but this protection is the accumu-
lation of centuries, and no zeal in tree-plantng
or culture can hasten its appearance. 1t is
this which makes primeval forest so valuable.
AS the spruce woods are cleared in
the Adirondacks this "duf," lying open
to the sun, soon becomes absolutely dry,
and tho first fire flashes through
is ~ if it were finder. A new growth OF wood
may sprout and grow, but the soil is not secure
against erosion, and part OF the mountain will
be swept into the Hudson with every treshet,
until the matted leaves of many years are
spread over it and held fast by the roots of
understands. If we would escape the certainty
of floods more destructive than those from
which Europe is now suneung-more destruc-
tive because our rivers are larger and the ba-
slns they dIalD more BpacOus-positlve meas
ures for the preservation OF our forests must
be undertaken Immediately. Congress should
create commission without delay to examine
the government lands at the heads Of the great
Western rivers ANA designate suitable areas to
be held in permanent forest. Our own Legisa-
ture will fail to meet one OF its panest duties
if it takes no steps to save the Hudson 10y Sc
curing the so-called Wilderness, whose lakes
and springs are of such vital importance to the
welfare oil the city and the State.
n BOIL BREAKING.
g Bad faith bas come to head in Tennessee,
Ia II