The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-02-27
The FORESTRY MOVEMENT.


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progress. The United States has
been slow to appreciate the perils of
its lack of forestry management. but
now that reaction has set in, much
is to be hoped from public sentiment
The heavily wooded states in
which wise and well directed for
est policy is most needed, are those
slowest as rule, to respond to move
ments which are designed for their
special benefit. Not so with West
Virginia. 1t is only within the last
two years that the subject of forestry
has been brought prominently before
the people. Upon entering the state
the paramount Importance OF for
est reserve was forced upon me, and,
as result, my first publications
were along that line.
The question of making the Mo
nongahela navigable twenty five
miles further up the stresm is no
longer question of debate. The
federal government has done its part.
1t has provided the means for con
structing the required locks and
dams, and it is our business to see
that continuous flow is heneeforth
maintained. At first sight this does
not seem much, but it is all-impor-
tant. If there is not a constant. and
at the same time, efficient flow of
water to these streams, the millions
spent will be worse than wasted.
But if the water never gets too low,
navigation cannot prove otherwise
than profitable. Such natural AFTER
les ofcommerce stimulate the growth
of towns and cities by bringing man
ufactories to them. This in turn
makes the commonwealth more pros
porous and swells the revenue to the
state.
How can this be brought about?
Only by outstanding our forest
cover. BY outstanding the forest
cover is not meant the extreme poll
cy of the state of New York, where
none of the timber of the state re-
serve can be sold. The forest should,
on the other hand, be looked upon
as any other crop. 1t has its period
of growth, followed by that of ripen-
ing or maturity. When trees have
decreased their rate of growth to
such an extent that the small addi-
ton of each year does not represent
a good interest ON the investment,
then the trees should be cut and
manufactured into the most profita-
BILE product. This applies not alone
to private enterprises, but. to public
holdings. In this respect the pres
ent measure is to be strongly com
mended 1t not only provides for
harvesting and marketing the ma
ture products, but it contemplates
re-foresting such land as is not
bearing a forest cover After one
has felt the protection afforded by
forest plantations upon the prairies,
he cannot help speaking favorably
of the wisdom of insisting on the
execution of this provision, when
the measure shall become a law.
The difference in the rate of evap-
Grafton from the soil inside the for
est and in the open is much greater
than those who have not given the
matter careful attention suppose.
The results of series of careful OBJ
servations made while teaching for
estry in the west show that Che at
mosphere in the forest often contains
as much as % per cent more mois-
ture than that of the open. A moist
strata of air such as this immediate
ly over the soil must necessarily act
as a blanket to maintain humidity
in the soil, to husband the flow of
springs, and lastly, to promote the
growth of vegetation above it. The
planting of naked areas will aid in
maintaining this very desirable con-
dition. Again, while forests are not
considered as agents for increasing
rainfall, they do cause a more equal |
distribution of the rain through the
season.
The conditions above described as
existing in forest area produce an
other effect which all meterologists
recognize as the main factor in the
formation of rains and dews. The
strata of moist air existing in the
forest create an upward current of
cold air. This coming in conse-
quent formation of rain, so that,
during our heated terms, large for
est areas, by inducing this current
of cold air causes showers. This
fact is so well recognized in the west
that continuous forest belts have /
been proposed as meaus of break
ing the force of the hot, dry winds
from the arid southwest, and at the
same time, causing rains by the
change in temperature created by
the contact of the cold forest cur
rents with the warm winds of the
south.
In nature we see examples of this
action. The warm, moist winds
from the Pacific coast, as they pass
over the coast range and the Rockies,
are said to be robbed of their mois-
ture, and hence the cause of the
semi-arid regions to the east of them.
But how are they robbed of their
moisture? In exactly the way 1
have described. The snow-capped
and forested mountains set up cold
currents of air, which coming in
contact with the warm air from the
sea causes the deposition of the
moisture which it contains. This,
then, explains why it is that of all
regions in the world the mountain
areas should be cherished as forest
reserves. -e'
A glimpse at map will at once
convince one that the great majority
of our streams take their rise in
regions. Here, then,
is the natural source of our water
supply. If this becomes diminished
in any way, the whole country feels