friction of the water flowing down the steep mountain sides. Whenever these slopes are bared of vegetation, gulleys and washouts are quickly formed, and the top soil is carried down to the river valleys and deposited, frequently in the river beds, thus restricting the channel, causing floods over neighboring land, and leaving on the mountain side only a sterile clay soil. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TIMBER Nearly the whole of these mountains, even the steep slopes, were once covered with a magnificent growth of timber, which, owing to its inaccessibility, was long spared the inroads of the lumbermen. Now, however, since the forests of the North and West have been denuded, lumbermen have turned their attention to the Southern Appalachians, and the vast forests are rapidly disappearing. Railroads have penetrated the mountains, and mills, large and small, have been located in the forested areas. One great railroad traverses the heart of the region, lines have been constructed up the Doe and Nolichuky rivers, and a number of other lines have been surveyed, some of which will probably be built within a few years. Wherever a railroad is constructed the neighboring timber soon disappears, because of the cheaper transportation. Most of the large mills are steam saw mills, and they are moved deeper into the forests as the supply of timber in their immediate vicinity is exhausted, the railroads being extended to them. Near the rivers the logs are splashed down the streams to the timber pens of the mills below, thus saving the cost of railroad transportation or a long haul over rocks and steep roads. Great as has been the havoc wrought by the lumberman, his part in the forest destruction has been small when compared with that of clearing the land for agricultural purposes and the loss from forest fires. Instead of trying to improve the soil in the valleys of adjacent slopes, the local farmer has for years followed the policy of clearing new patches on the mountain sides and abandoning the old patches as rapidly as the soil The productiveness of these hillside fields is short lived, each one being abandoned in from three to five years. After the trees have been girdled and the underbrush has been destroyed, the field is planted in corn for one or two years, then in grain for a year, then in grass for one or two years. After that it is used as pasture land for a year or two, until, with increased barrenness, the grass gives way to weeds and the weeds to gullies. Forest fires preceded the lumberman, have accompanied him, and have followed in his wake. They have been rendered far more destructive by the lumbermen leaving the brush scattered among the remaining growth in such a way that in the burning it has fed the fires. In some regions fires have entirely destroyed the forests, and the burning of the protecting humus has opened the way for the destruction of the soil itself from the wash of water. EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION ON STREAM FLOW That the destruction of the forests and the burning of the humus seriously affects the flow of the streams in this region there can be no doubt. There has been much argument among scientists and engineers as to the effect of forests upon rainfall and stream flow. Many have argued that forests are everywhere necessary for the proper regulation of stream flow, while others have denied the importance of the forest cover and have challenged the forester to show cases where the beneficial action of a forest is definitely proved. Whatever may be the facts in a general way concerning the effect of timber cover power use, in which the water is quiet, thus upon the run-off of streams, it is beyond affording conditions favorable to the deposiquestion a fact that in the Southern Appa- tion of silt. lachian Mountains the forests are absolutely THE PROJECTED FOREST RESERVE necessary not only for the regulation of the flow of the streams but for the protection of The importance of the Southern Appathe fertile valley lands bordering the streams, lachians as a collector and conservator of as well as for the preservation of the moun- water and their effect upon the water powers tains themselves. After the destruction of the of the southern streams are hard to fully forests, wherever a growth of underbrush or realize. Perhaps this is one reason why even grass is possible, the effect of the forest there has been so much delay on the part of cutting may not be so serious, as the grass the national Congress in passing the bill and roots of bushes protect the ground much which has been submitted to it each year as the forest itself does; but on these slopes, for the last ten years, authorizing the setwhen the top soil is removed, there is little ting aside of these mountains as a national chance for any vegetation to take root, and forest reserve and appropriating sufficient gullies 50 feet or more in depth are not un- funds for the purchase of the necessary land. common. The destruction by floods in the Sooner or later this bill will be passed, for valleys is, of course, greatest during a wet the people throughout the country are beseason. In the year 1901, the estimated ginning to realize the importance of the damage by floods in the valleys of the rivers great conservation movements that are flowing from these mountains was $10,000,- sweeping over the country, and there is not 000. Houses, bridges, railways, and high- one concerning which it is more important ways were carried away, and in places where to take immediate action than the setting the writer had seen fertile soil and growing aside of this forest reserve. crops a few months previous to the flood, there were depositions of from 10 to 12 feet of sand and clay, changing the land from at productive farm to a waste that would require years before ready for cultivation. During floods the finer silt is carried down the stream and deposited wherever the velocity of the current is checked, but especially in the reservoirs constructed for water WATER-POWER CONTROL It was proposed by President Roosevelt that all undeveloped water powers should be the property of the people, those developing the power doing so under a grant from the National Government permitting the utilization of the power for a stipulated period by the annual payment into the na AN ERODED SLOPE, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA tional treasury of a nominal sum, the rights to revert to the Government at the end of the license period. The constitutionality of such a measure is not certain. Able lawyers differ widely in their views on this question. Up to the present time the United States has done very little in the way of legislation regarding the development of unused water powers. It has always been conceded that the Government has the right to control all navigable streams, and therefore all dams to be constructed on streams, actually or theoretically navigable, must, according to law, be approved by the Chief of Engineers of the Army and the Secretary of War. If a stream flows through two or more States, and is known as an interstate stream, permission to construct a dam must be obtained by an act of Congress, while if the river is within a single State the right can be conferred by the legislature of that State. THE INCREASING COST OF COAL vannah River) were, like the early power plants at Lowell and Lawrence, planned to supply water to individual users, leaving the mills to install their own water wheels and generate their own power. All of the more recent plants, however, generate electric energy and transmit it to the users over copper or aluminum wires. Several developments are now under construction involving the expenditure of many million dollars. The Southern Power Company, the largest combination of its kind in the South, owns property and has plants which will develop more than 130,000 horsepower, the plants ranging in size from 3000 to 30,000 horsepower each, located principally on the Catawba River, but also on the Yadkin, Broad, and other streams. Their largest development, at the great falls of the Catawba, will utilize a fall of 176 feet in a distance of 6 miles, but for economic and engineering reasons this must be divided into three developments of 60, 72, and 40 feet, respectively, which will utilize about 2000 cubic feet of 0.87 1.04 water per second. All steam power in the Southeastern States is generated by the consumption of coal. Coal varies from $3 to $4 per ton, delivered at the plant. The price of coal without question will increase in the future for the consumption is yearly becoming greater, the supply is decreasing, and the cost per ton of mining has constantly grown larger, as shown by the following table furnished by the Mineral Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey: AVERAGE Year. 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 PRICE OF COAL AT THE MINE PER 2000 $1.41. 1.46. 1.49. 1.67. 1.84. 2.04. $0.80 1.04 1.12 1.24 While there may be an occasional temporary reduction in price, due to unusual causes, the general tendency of the price of coal will undoubtedly be upward, and therefore the cost of power generated by steam will increase correspondingly. Even to-day in most cases water power can be produced at from $10 to $15 per horsepower per year less than steam power in small units. But, setting aside this aspect of the case and looking at the matter from the standpoint of the conservation of natural resources, the argument is very strong in favor of the utilization of water powers instead of consuming coal for the production of power. The water power has been a wasted resource since the settlement of the country. Its utilization now would in no way reduce the assets or natural resources of the nation, but every ton of coal that is burned reduces one of the most valuable assets this nation possesses. To the water powers, therefore, we should look in our battle for industrial supremacy with the other nations of the earth. NEW POWER PLANTS ON SOUTHERN RIVERS The power plants of recent construction in the South are of much larger capacity than those formerly built for the use of individual milling corporations. The first plants (for example, that at Columbus, Ga., on the Sa The North Georgia Electric Company, although it has experienced many financial difficulties, controls eleven power sites, principally on the Chattahoochee and Etawah rivers. Only one of these, however, is developed. Plants are being constructed at Rockingham, on the Yadkin, to develop 30,000 horsepower; near Macon, on the Ocmulgee, to develop 20,000 horsepower; on the Tennessee, near Chattanooga, to develop 40,000 horsepower; on the Broad, near Gafney, to develop 10,000 horsepower; on the Cape Fear (completed), to develop 8000 horsepower, and at other places. Although manufacturing in Greensboro, Spartanburg, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville, Atlanta, and many other of the larger cities. and smaller towns is conducted by power transmitted electrically for distances of only 20 miles or a little more, practically the only limit to the distance of transmission is the cost of the transmission line and the comparative cost of producing power by steam, for in other parts of the country transmission lines as long as 220 miles have been operated, and longer lines are well within engineering possibilities. THE TENDENCY TOWARD CONSOLIDATION At present the development of water power in the Southern States in many sections is rapidly meeting the requirements for power for manufacturing establishments, and yet there are immense amounts of power that will be developed from time to time as the market demands. From an economic standpoint an important feature in the development of the South will be the competition between the various water-power companies in the same community in cases where there is more power available than is required. This is a condition that may not be seriously felt for many years, but when it is felt it is likely that there will be consolidation among the various water-power plants, and that the transmission lines will be connected so that the whole South will be covered with wires like a spider's web, arranged so that if one plant is shut down there will be no interruption of power, but the current will be supplied from other plants connected with the same wires. Practically all mills and factories will be operated by energy from this network of wires, at a price lower than power could be produced by the burning of coal, and in a more convenient and profitable way. Such consolidations will be to the advantage of the States concerned. But in order that there shall be no abuse of the wonderful powers which would be centered in such a community of interest, the owners of the powers should be compelled to act under most careful legal regulations made and enforced by the general government or by the various States. The power for good or for bad of such a combination would be greater than that of any like combination that has ever existed, but, properly guided, and with the rights of the individual properly protected, the water powers of the Southern States combined in this great community of interests would be one of their greatest assets. When this time comes there is no reason why the Southland should not be one of the great manufacturing centers of the world. It is important, in making ready for such a condition, that fair and equitable regulating laws be enacted early in the development, and that laborers for the operation of mills and factories be trained, for, after all, to-day the great drawback to the more rapid development of the manufacturing industries of the Southern States is the lack of competent white labor. THE GREAT FALLS OF THE POTOMAC (A seventy-four-foot undeveloped fall, within sixteen miles of Washington) FALLS OF THE GENESEE A STRIKING INSTANCE OF NEW YORK'S UNDEVELOPED POWER RESOURCES (The State might develop here 30,000 horsepower without injury to the scenic beauties of the falls) NEW YORK'S CONSERVATION OF THE During the administration of Governor Hughes New York has gained a prominent position among the States of the Union in legislative enactments for the regulation of public utilities. The success of the experiment in State regulation has attracted general attention and is to-day influential in shaping legislation in other States along similar lines. In the conservation movement New York is also the pacemaker, having inaugurated her own policy of conservation previous to the meeting of the Governors called at the White House by former President Roosevelt. In his address at that memorable conference Governor Hughes said: by nature and for a long period there has been a The Empire State has been bountifully blessed steady growth in the appreciation of her priceless treasures and of the importance of preserving them. Our vast stretches of forests feeding industrial activities of our citizens, long reour streams and nourishing the agricultural and mained the subject of selfish devastation and reckless disregard of the just demands of future generations, and without thought of the essential condition of our continued prosperity. In his first message, on January 2, 1907. Governor Hughes recommended an increase in the powers of the State Water Supply Commission, which was created in 1905, primarily to insure an equitable division among the municipalities of the State of the sources of water supply and the lands necessary for the proposed extension of municipal |