timber, can reasonably be expected at the end of 40 years from such. a site. (Pl. 9.) The present general value of the timber of this tree in stands 40 years old is about $3.50 a thousand board feet, log scale. During the past 40 years, timber of this kind has increased in value at the rate of about 5 per cent compounded annually, or from about 50 cents to $3.50 a thousand board feet (disregarding the shrinkage in the purchasing price of the dollar). In case timber of this kind, instead of continuing to increase in value at a rate of 5 per cent, should increase at a rate of 4 per cent during the next decade, and at a continually declining rate each subsequent decade to the end of the 40-year period, so that the average rate of increase for the entire period would be 2.6 per cent compounded annually, its value at the end of that time would be $9.51 per thousand board feet. (Fig. 4.) It is believed that the rate of increase will as a matter of fact greatly exceed this. Cordwood of a character suitable for paper-pulp stock will probably have a value of not less than $2 per cord at that time. There could thus reasonably be expected from FIG. 3.-Present value, by decades, of $1,000,000 utility value preserved by reducing erosion planted stands a gross return of $200 per acre (the computation shows $200.12), of which approximately $163 would come from the sale of saw-timber stock and the remainder from the sale of cordwood. Such figures undoubtedly seem extremely high, but they are not out of proportion to the increase in the value of timber of the same class which has already taken place in Maryland, and are at a considerably lower rate than the increase in value which has taken place in the case of second-growth white pine in New England.14 Taxes on such land can be assumed at 20 cents an acre a year, totaling, with interest at the current rate of 6.5 per cent a year, $36.66 at the end of the period of growth; while the cost of protection can be assumed at 3 cents an acre a year, likewise compounded at a rate of 6.5 per cent for 40 years, totaling $5.50 per acre. If these two items of expense, amounting to $42.16 are deducted from $200.12, the estimated total gross receipts from the sale of the timber, there is a balance of $157.96. 14 During the last 25 years second-growth white pine in middle New England has increased from $2.70 a thousand board feet in 1899 to $14 per thousand board feet in 1924, or at a rate of more than 6.5 per cent compounded a year. An initial investment of $12.50, at a rate of interest of 6.5 per cent compounded annually, will amount to $157.96 at the end of 40 years. Consequently the owner of water rights would be justified in going to an outlay of this amount per acre for the purchase and planting of lands with the expectation that the sale of the products from this land would return the initial investment and would cover the interest on this outlay at a rate of 6.5 per cent per annum compounded. There are areas of denuded lands on which restocking to trees could be expected, at least in part, from seed scattered by near-by old pines. There are other lands which would require planting, either because it would be necessary to check erosion at once or because there are no near-by seed trees. (Pl. 10.) An average present figure for planting short-leaf pine in this section, including the growing of 2-year-old stock, would be about $8 Increase in the value of second growth white pine in New England -62% during past FIG. 4.-Rate of increase in value of second-growth pine timber in New England and southern Piedmont region per acre. Many and in fact most lands requiring planting for their protection have recently been in cultivation. On such lands it would be possible without difficulty, by means of a large bull-tongue plow or shovel plow with coulter attached, to lay off rows within which planting could be done. This would cheapen the cost of outsetting. At a cost of $8 per acre for planting there would remain of the $12.50 only $4.50 an acre to be applied to the initial cost of the land. It would be necessary that the remaining expense of purchasing the land be charged as an element of cost in maintaining the utility value of the reservoir. The fund of $353,650, given above as representing the present value of the additional utility of the reservoir at the end of 40 years, can be drawn upon for the balance of the money necessary to complete the purchase of the land and to protect it from fire. An examination of the basin of a stream might show that practically all of the erosion, including the heaviest portion of the solid burden which enters the reservoir, consisting of the large sand, the small sand, and the coarser silt, is derived from approximately 6,000 acres of steep land now being cultivated annually to tilled crops, and that there are in addition 4,000 acres of land the erosion from which is less serious, but on which erosion should be checked within a period of not more than five years. It is ascertained that the 6,000 acres can be acquired at an average price of not more than $15 an acre and can be planted at a cost of not more than $8 an acre. These lands, being hilly, are of low productivity in farm crops but are of good productivity in timber. In addition to expending $12.50 an acre, which represents the value of the land when planted for timber production, it would be financially advantageous to expend a sum not exceeding the $353,650 mentioned above. An examination of the 4,000 acres on which erosion is less active might show that natural seeding from near-by old trees could be expected to restock this land in forest growth within a period of five years, and that consequently it would be unnecessary to resort to the expense of planting, so that the purchase price of the land, allowing for natural restocking, would be within the investment. value of the property in growing timber. SETTLING BASINS In addition to planting, it is possible and even desirable in some places to employ settling basins, within which much of the heaviest material at least may be left by natural elutriation. For this purpose, rough alluvial lands should be selected which have been injured by gullying during floods or upon which sand or gravel bars have been deposited. By means of low and inexpensive dams such lands can be flooded. The deposit from the slow-moving water will, in a few years-the period varying with the amount of sedimentation. height of dam, and rapidity of current-reach the top of the dam, except in the stream channel. The dam will then have performed its function. Settling basins are therefore a temporary expedient. They may be employed with a view to preventing loss in storage capacity of the reservoir while a planting program is being worked out and executed. (Pl. 11.) Lands built up by means of a settling basin may be made valuable for farming purposes by the removal of a portion of the dam at one point so as to permit the stream again to seek its normal or former channel bed. Soils so deposited are free from stone and gravel and enriched by the sedimentation from the slack water. Deposits of this kind frequently fringe the entire upper margins of large reservoirs. Such, for example, are the deposits in the reservoir at the Muscle Shoals 15 development, which in places would now be suitable for agricultural use if the water table were lowered only a few feet. Artificially formed alluvials of this kind after the removal of a portion of the dam are level and would generally be above the 15 See footnote 5, reference to p. 111. 99224-26- -4 flood line of the stream. Furthermore, they would not be subject to excessive surface erosion so long as the greater portion of the retaining dam remained intact. Their level surface, great fertility, ease of cultivation, and immunity from flooding render such lands extremely valuable for farming purposes. As the stream cuts its new channel to the depth allowed by the removal of the dam, it might be desirable to plant to stream side shrubs, the bank thus being formed, in order to prevent corrasion and restrict meandering. PLANTING A WOOD In considering plans for forest planting a decision should first be reached as to the most desirable species to employ. In making such a choice full weight should be given (1) to the health and vigor of different species, (2) to the cost of propagating stock for planting, (3) to the ease of planting, and (4) to the initial rate of growth of the kind of tree from the point of view of obtaining a suitable soil cover within the shortest period. Such consideration should have as much weight as the value of the timber that would be produced by the stand within the period of growth. Native trees as a rule should be selected. A careful study of the site should be made to ascertain which of the native species is most suitable for the site, and the quality or productive capacity of the site for the species in question should be ascertained. For their value in growing timber, soils are classified on the basis of the number of cubic feet of solid wood of a specified kind of tree that can be produced within a given period. If other than a native species is selected, it is more difficult to decide upon these points. The following native species are particularly to be recommended for planting for protective purposes in the sections for which designated, but they by no means include all of the desirable native species. High altitudes and particularly unfavorable sites, including very dry or stony, shady, or wet sites, demand special species. In the Northeast, in the upper Mississippi Valley, and in the southern parts of the Lake States, the white pine is the most desirable conifer for general conditions on sites to which adapted, and when not subject to destructive diseases and pests. Norway pine is suitable for sandy or poorer sites. If a hardwood species is to be considered, red oak is unexcelled either by itself or in mixture with white pine, although the white pine as a rule will outgrow the red oak. In the Appalachians white pine is the desirable conifer for medium and higher altitudes particularly on the drier sites; and yellow poplar and red oak are the most desirable broad-leaved species. In the southern Piedmont regions and the lower Mississippi Valley and in the Ozarks shortleaf or rosemary pine on the uplands with southern red oak on similar sites and yellow poplar on moist (not wet) sites are the best suited species. In the northern Rocky Mountain region and on the northwest coast western white pine and Douglas fir can be expected to give the best results under average conditions. In the Southwest on medium sites the western yellow pine is the desirable tree, but the species, preferably a local one, should suit the site and altitude. Alluvial lands, headwaters of Catawba River, N. C., injured or destroyed by floods in 1916. They represent ideal sites for the location of settling basins to collect large quantities of sediment which otherwise would reduce the pondage of reservoirs on this river. In time level alluvials very valuable for farming would be built upon the sites of the settling basins |