Part III

longer necessity for the military roads by which to give succor there against Indian uprisings. The projected Oregon Central and Eastern Railway (the construction of which began on a financial basis furnished by two milit.uy road grants) is impeded by the Cascade forest reserve. This road, if completed to the east line of the state, would answer more than all the purposes of the military roads for national uses; as troops hereatter will be collected in these range states of tlie interior and lirought to the Pacific shores, where the emergencies demanding military power are most likely to arise. Meanwhile the most important aid to an increase of homes in the central part of the state of Oregon.and eastward and southward of that region, is a railroad through that country .so that lumber for homes and fencing material, and for irrigation projects, can be distributed with greatest economy. In the valley and pass by which this line of railroad is now more than half way across the Cascade range there are more than one hundred resident homesteaders who were located within the limits of the forest reserve before it was proclaimed. Many of them were stopped in their efforts for improvement and development of their homes by the prospect of an unetidurabfe isolation, the proclamation in effect destro3ing all hope of the social surroundings which are the best influences of civilization. To open that reservation, two townships wide, to free acquirement of the land, under any reasonable ct)nditions as to harvesting of the timber, would be the best possible encouragement to those interested in this-railroad enterprise which li) flii.s forest policy has so far stopped. It would encouraj^e tile completion of the road, the manufacture of lumber through a fine timber belt eighty miles wide, and give healthful home-supporting opportunity to at least five thousand heads of families; furnish lumber freights, lioth eastward and westward, to the railroad line, and develop the numerous interests in connection with this comparatively small opening, for which many people have been waiting for more than twenty-five years. If the writer were desirous of suggesting the very best means within his knowledge of lessening tlic dangers of the m >st extensive and destructive fires p )ssibh' in the Cascade timber t)elt, this is the recommendation we would make: Clear a gap across the range in the cpjickest and most judicious way possible. The committee on forestry recorded one undoubted truth: "N'o human agency can stop a west- tern (Oregon) forest fire after it has once obtained real headway, until it encounters a natural barrier, is extincjuished t)y rain, or expires for lack of material." The opening of this gap is suggested as means of creating an artificial break in the consumable material, and an interested resident popu- lation of guards, n-hicli cuii l>o made subjects of legal cu/l for aid as one cori<litiou of C(Jiiret'aiicc of forest lauds from tlic nation or the state. Another reason for the foregoing suggestion is the value of the water power now running unused. For fifty-one miles the North Santiarn river, running down this valley. has an average and very uniform fall of fifty-one and one-half feet per mile. It is questionable whether there is another stream in the state which could be so often and so cheaply used in the production of force. The very refuse of its forest wealth could be ground into paper pulp by waterdriven inachinery. The writer is no machinist, and knows little of what can now be done with electric force, but sincerely l)elieves tfiat in this valley there are great opportunities for its cheap manufacture and a convenient field for its use in harvesting the timber growth which ought to l)e here saved from further waste, and as a guard against possible destructive forest fires. There is also, near the head of this valle)-, a very inviting field for fruit growing, dairy farming and apiaries. Twenty 3ears ago it was estimated tfiere was room for the settlement of 2,0011 families on open or partially open lands, upon which seedling timber has since much en- croached. In view of this great waste going- on in the forests of Ore- gon generally; in view of the situations described as to for- 20 est and arid lands near the center of tlie State, is there anj' reason for the people of other states to interfere with the people of Oregon harvesting their timber wealth in their own way, under such circumstances? All! but these Eastern friends say; "We look to the future and the oneness of our country." The Western citizens will say: "Yes, but the oneness will be best maintained by each expending his public spirit where he knows the condition." Let the citizens of New York continue to enlarge the state's holdings on the Adirondacks. l^et those in Massachusetts use the abandoned farms in that state for public timber lots. Let those of New Hampshire follow the example of Mr. Austin Corbin, who has shown to the world a tield of interesting study by collecting l.Wl elk, 150 moose, l,2tX) deer, and 85 buffalo, and an indefinite numl>er of wild swine, all in a forest park of 2(i,<IO(' acres, to form which he canceled 375 titles, by pur- chase at from :fl to !f25 per acre, from people who. we may suppose, find life more pleasant in manufactures or trade of town or city, or in the pulse-stirring home-building of the West, to which they are always welcome. In every state there are openings for the public spirited idealist, or if he does not wish to share fiis plans with others, there is the fine example of the founder of Biltniore--an investment in lOlt.OOO acres of southern pine forests, to be managed for its forestry products. There are openings for others in like enterprises in the New England states. EFKECTS OF FOKEST Gt'JOWTII Oi\ WATER SUPPLY. It is not possible for men and women who never saw the effect of irrigation to estimate its value under such conditions as Mr. Doscfi describes in tlie canyons of Snake river, and Dr. Kernow bears witness to having seen on the deserts of Arizona (during his examinations of the forests of that territory, recently published by the American Forestry As- sociation.) Dr. Kernow notes that "The broad valley of the Rio Verde, which carries the drainage from the plateau of Salt river, is capable of agricultural development to a much greater extent than has been attempted, but, as in other parts of the territory, this requires systematic storage and utilization of water. By careful management, the cattle, sheep and goat industry would, no doubt, be able to use advantageously the large non-irrigable areas." This suggestion can be truthfully applied to the whole arid land country from the Mexican line to British America, and from the summit of the Cascade range in Oregon, to Western Kansas and Nebraska. 21 The present flocks and herds, said to number 24,0()f),(XX) of slieep and l.'iOO.UK) cattle, in the arid land area could be greatly augmented, and an amount of additional value gathered from what is now desert that can hardly be conceived of. It is greatly to be hoped that the departments of Grovernment will take measures to aid its present development, instead of creating and guarding solitudes. It is more than twelve years now, since the writer suggested the use of means to get artisian water onto these arid lands. t)n similar areas the governments of Australia are in advance of ours, both in the reservation of forests and pro- visions for and conservation of water supply. In New South Wales alone, the number of reserves aggregates 15,050, dis- tril)uted over every county and almost every parish in the province, in order to meet the needs of the people, ranging from 15 acres to 74,(XK) acres in area. Some of thein are along the banks of rivers, extending two chains from the bank, apparently as protection from the flood, wood and debris carried by the streams when in extraordinarj- flood, as sometimes occurs there as in some portions of arid America. They are under a local board of control, which tends to cul- -- tivate a public spirit though sometimes so numerous as to create confusion. The report mentions thirty miles on one river as being in charge of no less than fourteen boards. There is no hint in the consular reports of the practical Australians creating permanent reserves of millions of acres of timl)er as protection to the flow of streams. The whole system aeeitis to be managed for immediate practical development, such as is greatl}' needed throughout our arid land districts, in which there are now settlers who have to use sagebrush for fuel. From the report of Consul Cameron, of Sydney, New South Wales, the following is taken: "It is worthj' of note, the influence of trees is comparatively 'nil' in this countrj'. During the exceptionally wet year of 1887, on Dinb}' station, north of Baradine, 408 miles north of Sydney, situated in a densely timbered countrj', the mean rainfall was 32.60 inches against .38.92 at the neighboringstation in the open. On the other hand, in the verj* dry 3'ear of 1888, Dinby figured for 11.73 inches with 15.oS inches at the above stations. Elevation, however, seems to have a beneficial influence on rainfall, as the average of fovirteen years at Wollongong, half a mile from the sea, at a height of sixtyseven feet is 38.84 inches, and at Cordeanx, near the same place, six miles from the sea, it is 55.53 inches for seventeen years at an eleTation of about 1,200 feet. " The foregoing extract is given for what it may be worth as indicating whether it is the presence of tlie timber which influence precipitation, or elevation, merely, which has a favorable effect in increas- ing rainfall. There are other points in Consul Cameron's excellent report that I shall call attention to, namely, the amount of moisture taken up by evaporation by different soils and situations, but more particularly the difference be- tween sod-covered soil and bare earth and water surface. The test was made by Mr. H. C. Russell, B. A. C. M. G. F. R. S., the government astronomer for New South Wales. Tfie tests were secured by the use of pans eight incVies deep, and surfaces of foursquare feet and the records made wlien prac- ticable through the twelve months of the wettest season recorded, which showed a mean temperature of (ill", the total rainfall was 81.418 inches in one hundred and eighty four days of the year, on many of which evaporation did not take place, the water running over tfie test pans. The total evaporation from the square in grasses was :ii.9()0 inches; from the water surface 31.027 inches; from the garden soil, which, thoiigh sandy, hardened when was dry, it 2."i.47(> inches, showing, by a difference of nearly ten and a half inches, that either the inherent heat of the live grass, the increase of exposed surface by the grass blades, or the sponge-like absorption of the bare earth, made this differ- ence. It is probable all three agencies were operative, but there is a difference between the grass and the water surfaces. The grass giving off -l.fK-iS inches more than watL-r. This in- dicates an effect of absorption of heat by the broken surfaie and color of the grass, and perhaps a reflection of heat from the surface of the water, an effect I claim as one reason whj- a solid snowbank will lie longer in the open air uiimelted than in thick timber or brush near by, an effect that every one familiar with the mountains can often see. Other in- fluences are present, namely it is warmer in dense timber in the winter season than in the open and while it is (*ooler in the timl>er during the daylight in summer when the sun is shinning, it is warmer within a timber belt on a sumnu-r night than in the open. This is proven by the fact that cold given off from the bodies of snow during tfie night in the sumtner months often causes water to freeze in the open, when it does not do so in the nearby timber. There is an- other and very important fact indicated by the difference of ten and a half inches of water evaporation between the grass covered and the bare soil, during the days of one year on which evaporation took place. If tfie great evaporation was caused by the life qnd color of the grass and the increased surface its l>lades offered to the sun's rays we may reason- 23 ably expect the greatly increased surface of a growing forest will throw off a greater amount of moisture bj- evaporation than will a grass surface. The question whether this is so or not is most respectfullj' referred to the eminent body of scientists to which the forestry committee belongs, and to the national experiment stations generally. The writer believes science will find that trees not only extract water from a greater depth of earth than does grass, but also give off during the growing