The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1915-12-30
OUR FORESTS
cHAUTAUQUA PAPER READ BEFORE PIERIAN CIRCLE
{ Continued from first page }

C0ntsnaceGy
In reference to the first mentioned, the control
ing OF the headwaters of our streams if the forests
surrounding many of them had been preserved. need
less Hoods of the past and many of the future would
have been prevented When rain falls over dense
1orest about fourth of it is caught by the trees.
small part of it may reach the ground by running
down the trunks, but most of it evaporates The bal
ance at least of it sabsorbed by the forest
floor. This in the end off into steams or sinks
in the ground But where there isn't any forest there
is nothing to hold the water and it reaches the
streams in short time, causing as have mentioned
great foods which we know are destroyers of life
and property.
In the great valleys of California and Oregon
where the irrigation projects have mentioned are
carried on. and where the prosperity of the people
depends on the water supply, like danger to that
which threatens the headwaters. these Sec
lions. When the rain falls over the mountains sur
rounding these valleys, and when they are not pro-
tected by forests the water is not held back. There
are no roots to bind the soil together and sudden
thaws or heavy rains quickly swell the streams and
give them great power. They rush down the noun
tans carrying dirt and stones with them. As they
near the valley they break from their beds and spread
over the lowlands dumping their load of dirt and
stones. After such flood, for time the streams
usually low because the which should have
fed them for weeks months, has run of in few
days. So you how important an effect forests
have on irrigation, which requires constant flow
of water.
Light is also vital necessity to the forest and
determines greatly the shapes and growth of the
Mofr hnc< g
by seed and by sprouts Seed forests are generally
composed of conifereus which rarely sprout or
of hroadlea decdous allowed to reach large
size. Sprou forests composed of broadleaf trees
cut while young or swept down by the winds or fires
The sprout forests strong powerful as
the seed forests do they reach great height,
for the reason that the stumps from which they
spring, decoy and infect the sprouts. Nature also
provides for immigration amongst trees by making
certain of the seeds light that they are carried by
the wind to distant regions again through the agen
ces of the squirrels and Birds the heavier ones are
transported These are furnished in great abund-
ance to provide against waste and destruction.
The enemies of the forest are many and varied.
They are: fire. insects, sheep and goats disease and
destructive numbering.
The first fire, has through the carelessness of
men, been the of the destroying of more forests
than any other agency. By the thoughtess dropping
OF lighted match neglected campfire, or thru
the deliberate setting of fire (for either of two pur
poses: to receive the wage paved fighters or to
provide new pasture for catte) many of the great
fire disasters which have swept away millions of feet
OF lumber and destroyed countless lives have been
caused. For instance, look the great devastation
that has taken place in the northern part this State
The forests can be reproduced but what of the
lives that were lost in the Hinckly Fire? Can they
be reproduced?
The destruction caused by insect parasites has
been great also. Thru New England alone, thou
sands of acres have been destroyed by the gypsy
and brown-tail moths. An interesting incident is
wrapped up in the introduction of these pests into