Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-03-24
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
The Importance of Our Northern
Woodlands to It's Navigation.
"A Few Pertinent Ideas as to the Infu
.ence of Our Forests on the .sFather
of Waters" by Prof. s. Water
house, of st. Louis.

III the water that now flows in the
mississippi were contracted into a mar.
<ow channel. it would, even in mid
summer. be amply sufficient for all the
purposes of navigation But any ma.
terial reduction in the volume of water
would seriously increase the Difficult
Ties which now confront the govern
'znent engineers. If the ak of the
northern woodsman is lowering the
Mississippi and it's upper tributaries,
congress ought at once to enact forest
'Ey laws that will effectively protec,
those woodlands which are still under
the national control. That the telling
of large forests affects the distribution
of the rainfall both reason and obser-
'vation seem to prove.
AS long as the present constitution OF
nature exists, the moisture ceaselessly
carried into the air by the process OF
evaporation must return to the earth.
Does the presence or absence of trees
make any difference in the quantity of
rain that falls in a given district? The
range of comparative observation has
been too limited for science at present
to give a definite response to this in
'quiry. But it seems reasonable to be-
-lieve that the chill of evaporation tends
to eondense the humidity of the atmos-
phere and again to Stake the thirst of
the trees with the water transpired
from their leaves, Or wind borne from
distant sources. 1t is well known that
the functions of both animal and
vegetable life develop electricity,
and it is highly probable that
the growth of plants produces
electrical conditions that favor precip-
Itation. This is consistent with the in
finite wisdom which cosmic processes
everywhere exhibit. 1t would be
strange indeed, if nature, which makes
such marvelously ingenious provisions
TO preserve the life of all the rest of it's
children, should neglect it's vegetable
offspring. The biographies studied in
my childhood asserted that it never
rained in Egypt During the first day
of INV visit to that land there were two
showers. They fell in the neighbor-
hood of the Suez canal. But the guam
tity of water in that canal was alto
gether too insignificant to account for
the result Apart from the construc-
ton of this great waterway, there
have been for ages no physical
changes except the recent growth
of Il large number of trees and the
cultivation of limited tracts on the
banks of the canal. 1t would appear
TO be legitimate inference that the
showers were due to the trees and the
tiilage. 1t is proverb among farmers
that the clearing of woodlands causes
those springs that are not fed from re-
mote sources to dry up. In New En-
gland some of the streams that fifty
years ago were large enough to drive
mills have, since the removal of the
neighboring woods, dwindled to mere
brOoklets. The disforesture of north
eru Maine has heightened the spring
freshets and lowered the midsummer
flow of the rivers. Many streams that
were once deep enough to float logs to
the mills have become too shallow for
the lumbermen to use. 1t is said that
the waters of our great northern lakes
are gradually sinking.
There is no apparent explanation of
this subsistence, except the widespread
destruction of forests around the sources
of the tributary rivers The rains pass
off in sudden floods, and do not, by slow
filtration through the soil. maintain the
level of the lakes by a relatively steady
and evenly distributed inflow.
1t has been stated that the rain-gauge
shows that there is no greater amount
of precipitation on wooded than on
bare lands. If the same showers pass
over both tracts, the statement is prob
ably true; but it is my belief that, in
the case of large sections, the forests
~ L
prairie.
But grant that the precipitation is
the same in both instances. What fol-
lows? Is it necessary to trace merely
the results OF the rainfall in the sum-
lner season, for that is the time when
low water embarrasses navigation; and
to speak only of large areas, for small
ones would not exert perceptible in
huence on the climate.
The soil of the northwest, in which
>Gne Mississippi has it's sources. is large
~ a clayey loam. When it is unpro-
tected by the shade of trees. the heat
of a summer sun bakes the surface
into a hard crust Unless the rains are
protracted, and they seldom are
IN the warm months, they fail to soften
the crust and penetrate deeply into the
soil If the surface is uneven, most of
the water flows quickly into the streams
and is borne away from that region.
If the surface is level, the intense heat
causes rapid evaporation. Moreover
She radiation of large body of heated
Land rarifies the air and creates thirsty
winds, which greediiy absorb moisture.
In consequence of the rapid off-fow
and evaporation. comparatively little
water is stored in the soil of an I'M
wooded district.
But lands shaded by forests are not
Sun-scorched. The ground remains
friable. Most of the rain is absorbed
into the porous earth. Unless the
showers are very heavy, the immediate
Aow into the streams is relatively small.
The cool forests do not engender hot
winds, but break those which come
from the open plains; the trees ward
off the solar heat with their leafy
shields; and the exhalation of moisture
from the foliage lowers the tempera-
'sure of the woodland. All of these con-
sditions tend to check evaporation from
. the soil. A large part of the humidity
Z. of forest-clad grounds passes into the
uair by Transportation, hut the wood
lands, even after they have satisfied the
.intemperance of the trees. contain a
greater quantity of moisture than that
which shadeless and sun-dried fields alb
serb; and this water. slowly percolat-
ba rfh feeds the Snrin CrS