The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-02
WHAT THE FORESTS DO.

The New York Board of Trade and Transportation has taken up the ques- tion of the proposed Appalachian forest New York Mail, referring to the ob-
 jects of the Board:
 To conserve, to equalize the water supply which comes down from the
 great central fountain range of the At Iantlc and Gulf States; to provide a se
 ries Of natural reservoirs with which to maintain in perennial flow the streams which turn, or may turn, the wheels of manufacture in many States; to Keep in the pockets of the people the millions of dollars that are | annually lost through destructive floods to devote to their proper eco-
 homie use-that Is, the production of timber-the mountain sides which are
 unit for agriculture and are now be- ing wastefully denuded-theSe are cer- talnly objects worthy the attention of metropolitan commercial organlza-
 tion. Certainly these are worthy subjects
 for any association or organization to concern itself with. for they deal with matters of immense and far-reaching
 importance to the future of the coun-
 try and It's people. We note, also, SlaI a AHSSlli6 OL lnS AIHSElCan EOr- estry Congress is to be held in Wash
 ington next week, at which the gen.
 eral subject of Forestry will be con- sidered, and we suppose steps will be
 taken looking to the protection of | our timber supply, and to the preserva- tion of the American frests.
 It Is yet a mooted question whether
 the destruction of forests causes any diminution of the rainfall. We know
 that 1t is denied by apparently good authority that in the Eastern half of the United States at all events, the an- nual rainfall is not affected by the destruction of the forests, but we also know that 1t is asserted by what also seems to be good authority that where the land has been denuded the rains are very sensibly diminished.
 Perhaps both contentious are cor rect as to certain localities, but wheth- CT either is wholly or partially wrong there can be no difference of opinion as to the good the forests do in other respects. One of these benefits is the equalization of the water deposited on the earth. Where the hillsides are bare the water runs off rapidly, caus- ing floods and washouts, besides car rying away much of the soil itself, and these floods rapidly exhaust the water supply and bring on the droughts from which the country sur- fers so much. Land that is covered with trees, leaves and undergrowth absorbs and retains much of the water, preventing the floods and equalizing the flow of the streams. These facts are well established. and any efforts looking to forest preservation are com mendable. Discussing this phase of the question The New York Journal of Commerce says:
 A proper scientific treatment of forests, wherever they exist and are of more value than the denuded land, is important with reference to the present and future timber supply; but of still greater consequence is the prevention of denuding in the great mountain tracts which are the chief source of the streams that afford water supply and power. Destroying the dense woods has the result of greatly diminishing the accumulation of mois- ture among these heights, but the eff