The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-10-29
LAND HURT
BY FIRE
COMMENT EXPERT SAYS CUT
OVER AREAS NEED PRO-
TECTION.
,dcts Dire Results Unless Flames
a Held in Check Spent Much
Time in Study of Western Wash
inqton Soils.

roooma Oct. 23.-The Washington
,.rasDondent of the Tacoma Ledger
,rds his paper the following:
Low best to protect and utilize the
orer lands in the State of Wash
..rton is a problem that has been
,15ied during the past summer by
nrof W J. MCGEE, of the United
,.,+oc department of agriculture, in
onaratiOn with a number of scien-
,;.,s detailed to the work by the State
.a,ornment. And, in the opinion of
1.of yTcGee, this is by far the great
.+ economic problem that today con-
s,op1s the people of the Evergreen
r+ara The proper solution will mean
,,,uch TO the entire state; neglect of the
nrobIem will unquestionably result in
',ntoId damage which cannot be meas
nred in dollars and cents.
Prof MCGEE, who is in charge of soil
erosion investigation conducted by the
do,arrment of agriculture, and who is
one of the foremost advocates OF. con-
rorvariOD of res ources, spent the great
or mart of the past summer IN western
washington. He made particular
studv of the soil formation; the rela-
ton of soil to the forests, and the best
methods of protecting that soil against
destruction. That it can be destroy
cd Prof. MCGEE entertains no doubt,
and that much of it will be destroyed
unless properly guarded, he is equally
confident.
States Glacial Deposits.
THE most extensive glacial deposits
in the United States are in Washing
ion" said Prof. McGee to the Ledger
correspondent, shortly after his re-
turn from the field. These deposits
form the basis of the soils, and the
character Of the soil is determined by
its relation to the glacial deposits.
In Washington the deposits consist
principally of till, with beds Of gravel,
sand, etc, scattered through. These
Washington deposits are exceptionally
hard; there is little clay, but much
IL. L
is such that water circulates very
freely throughout the entire deposit.
That being the case, the water table
Or the level to which the under
ground waters SINKS ordinarily
away below the surface, and wells in
most instances have to be sunk quite
deep.
There is an abundance of rain on
the west slope of the Cascade noun
tains, but this water does not remain
in the surface soil, but goes down to
the water table, The glacial deposit
which constitutes the soil of much of
this region is a sieve rather than a
sponge, and water will not remain
near enough to the surface to be
available for agricultural purposes eX-
Cept when it is held there by some
other sponge than the glacial deposit
itself. That is why so many attempts
at agriculture on the glacial soils have
failed; that particular soil has not
been adapted to ordinary methods of
agriculture.
Desert Is Underneath.
During the thousands of years that
have elapsed since the glacial ice melt
ed nature has developed an agency
Tor holding the water in the glacial
soils of Western Was hington-the for
eStS and the associated flora-and it
would De difficult to find more effec-
i've agency for holding water. The
Slganuc trees towering high in the
ar; the mammoth brake as high as
man; the lOw-growing salal and Or
tson grape, and the heavy moss form
ing a carpet covering over the surface,
prevent evaporation of the water that
IaitS as rain. All this flora finds root
II the light, rich accumulation of
mulch, and in the humus that per-
neateS the upper layers of the soil.
Two 1eet below the flora, however, is
tropical desert. The great frs have
H"ooFate root systems only foot
anu half Or two feet below the sur
AYE those roots do not penetrate in
u me glacial clay beneath. This is
e,iuent when one of the big trees top
pies over and its root system is ex-
posed
Nature has extended this floral COW
u over the surface with view to util-
,AiNs the rain. When the glacial ice
,esdn TO melt there was no vegetable
me on the soil left exposed. Gradu-
any however, tree and plant life got
START and the decaying leaves and re-
iu began forming a mulch. AS the
Ieceded the trees advanced east
' %'ra up the slopes, gaining a foothold
IN 'He mulch that was gradually form
IS under and around the standing
ba ,.loer. Not all of the glacial country,
liver, has been forested. On the
slopes of Mt. Rainier are today
oaT pare spots known 10
E as prairies. These are
,L,ng more than galcial deposits ov-
~ winch mulch has never spread and
tioa, eiore on which tree life is prac-
,aly impossible. Had settlement of
tbo. northwest been delayed 500 years