The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-09-24
DIXIE FOREST
Loss AFFECTS
MIDDLE west
Expert Declares Deforesta-
ton Drouth Cause in
Other Area

I Careless destruction or forests II
the deep south and southeast is
one of the chief causes of the
drouth in the middle west accord
ing to Frederick Cowles, forestry
expert and Oregon rancher.
"Trees," CowleS said, "are tC
the earth what the heart is to The
human body They are circula-
tors of moisture. By letting oul
timberlands continue to be reck-
less cut and destroyed by fire
without replacing the growth, we
are cutting the heart out of OuI
agricultural life"
Cowles is chairman of the ex-
ecutive board of the Green Cross,
an organization devoted to forest
conservation.
He was asked how he connect
ed trees and the drouthS.
QUOTES STEINMETZ
WARNING
Back about 1921" said Cowles,
Charles P. Steinmetz, the electro
chemical wizard, came to meet,
ing of the Green Cross in Cali
fornia. He told us, 4 have spent
II years to find out how plants
make starch. | haven't discovered
that but l have found out some
other things that will interest you
"Stinmetz turned to a map or
the wall Pins in it indicated for.
est fires that had burned 1OO,OOC
acres or more. Attached to each
pin was newspaper clipping tell
| ing the story of the fire. Then
he made us sit up by matching
nearly every one of those new;
clippings with another which tolo
a story of heavy rainfall over that
burned area, within three year:
after the fire, accompanied BY
flood destruction.
TRANSPORTATION is
DIMINISHED
"What is the connection? Just
this: Vegetation and trees are
constantly evaporating moisture
into the air - Transportation, ats
called-which rises and acts as
trigger to release moisture in the
upper levels which falls as ram
When this happens regularly, the
rains are normal. But if the for,
est is burned away by fire, ano
there is no Transportation, the up,
per atmosphere becomes saturated
with moisture which finally comes
down in one tremendous rainfall
1t beats nground where there Is
no vegetation to absorb 1t. The
hare soil is flooded and eroded.
This Transportation of moisture
bv trees is no small thing. A oO
wear old maple tree transplreS
more water per day than a ~ acre
lake.
AFFECTS OTHER AREAS
DEMONSTRATION has another tunc'
ton. When rain falls about seven
ninths of it is transpired back into
the atmosphere as moisture again
to be carried off and fall else
where. If trees and vegetation
are sparse the rain simply runs OIL
/ in swollen rivers.
Zone of the areas in this coun'
try where forest destruction oS
fire has been heaviest is the deer
south and southeast, where moS'
of the timberland is owned pr
vately. Normally, this land woulo
consume only a small part OF the
rain that fell over it, transpl1ne
most of it back into the clouds
again to be carried on up into the
valleys of the Mississippi and MIS-
souri,. But now the rain falls OF
the empty soil there and runs
right back into the Gulf of Mex;
leo, It is not carried north ano
west as it once was-and that Is
one of the chief causes OF drouCr
in the middle west.
MINERAL SALTS LOST =,
"Human suffering due to drouth
and loss of farm and grazing lanC
are only the obvious effects OF thl'
forest wastage. These destructive
floods carry back into the sea Wltn
them phosphates and mineral salts
SissoIved from the land by the
chemically hungry" rainWater;
Those fertilizing chemicals shoulo
be used by and become part OF the
nIants and in the normal cycle D.;
used again and again. instead
thev are washed into the sea.
"a billion dollars worth of phos'
nhoric acid is washed into the
Gulf of Mexico every year, a9o
YOU can't grow so much as 0laoe
of green grass without phosphorl'
acid as fertilizer.
PLANTS MAKE SOIL =.
"Soil erosion by these floods Is
another serious problem. Plants
make soil. They generate car
homie acid which through then
roots attacks rocks and crumble;
them into soil. In this way sol.
is nroduced at the rate of about
one inch every 1900 years. s.;
when six inches of soil is washed
away, you've lost 5000 years OF
natures work.
"Still another aspect OF tnt
problem is the disappearance OF
bird life with the forests: BIRDS
eat insects and worms. Without
SSNN 49, MI, Hin In