The herald., 1897-05-07
after the heavy rain which did so much

after the heavy rain which did so much
| damage. One side of the canyon had
| been burned off and the other had not.
| The rain from the burned district ran
violently down into the river carrying
with it ashes and debris, while on the
other side it found Its way into the river
slowly doing no damage. In the one
case the surplus water ran to waste
and in the other it slowly found its way
into the irrigating systems. doing much
good. When the brush Is not burned
| off the water finds its way largely into
the ground to reinforce the under-flow
currents, but when the brush Is burned
off the surplus waters are largely lost.
1t requires time for the rainfall in the
mountains to percolate through the
various strata and find its way into val
ley supply. In some cases as much as
two years time is required for this
work. The lumber interests have been
against the forestry question. but here
in Southern California this question
cuts but little figure. Several years ago
he had. by direction of government off,
cials. visited the Sierra Nevada noun
tains in company with others sent there
for investigation and in one case he had
found that $2.00O,000 worth Of lumber
had been stolen from the United States
timber lands. other emilar cases were
found on smaller scale. He did not
complain Of the use Of timber by miners.
for they put it to good use and did not
use enough to interfere with the supply.
The sheep men were, however, a great
damage in the country in that their
sheep tramped the ground In the noun
tains, making it hard and they eat on
the underground and thus prevented
the conservation Of the water supply
Mountain fires We're a eource of great
destruction and these were frequently
started by the sheep herders; also by
campers and hunters who seemed to
care nothing for anything except their
own immediate wants. The raising Of
forests for lumber purposes must be in
the hands Of the government for 1t takes
thirty-five years to grow redwood tree
to size making it fit for lumber and no
individual will look that far ahead for a
matter Of profit The government should
patrol the mountains and thus prevent
fires. This could be easily done. We
have an army sufficient to do this work
and they should make themselves useful
as we'll as ornamental. One company Of
cavalry could patrol large extent Of
mountain territory. individuals cannot
do this work. although some of the large
water companies are doing something
in this line. The government seems to
be taking an interest in this business
and he hoped coon to see practical work
commenced in this line.
James Boyd had been through the
mountains extensively and he did not
think that the burning off OF the brush
in the mountains interferred with the
rainfall going into the ground. II the
forest fires could be stopped and the
sheep herders kept out of the moun-
tains the new growth would soon cover
the mountains better than ever before.
In answer to various questions taken
from the question box, Mr.. James Boyo
said that the fall of oranges was caused
by lack of moisture. When the tree had
too little moisture the tree set 10 work
to protect itself. It first shed 1ts rruit
and then il necessary 1t sheo lts leaves.
Trees need more moisture during not
dry spell than at other times. Inere-
fore, In case Of a hot dry Wlnd irrlgate
If the ground is too dry. however, II
the surface of the soil is kept thoroughly
cultivated less irrigation Is necessary.
As regards the aeration of the soils Of
orchards. D. Edison Smith of Santa Ana
believed in thorough cultivation. After
he irrigated he would cultivate, then go
over the ground with smoother and
then go over again with a fine tooth
harrow.
One resident Of Azusa had smoother
with nails driven through 1t so that after
the process of smoothing the ground
had been completed the nails made q
small harrow to loosen the surface.
A large audience wac In attendance
and the society was still In session when
this report closed.