FOREST FIRES. 



77 



kept better pace with eaeli other. (See figs. 71, 72, and 

 PI. XL.) In many regions snow is so useful in protect- 

 ing the soil and the young trees that the harm it does 

 is quite overbalanced by its benefits. 



FOREST FIRES. 



Of all the foes wliicli attack the woodlands of Xorth 

 America no other is so terrible as lire. Forest fires 

 spring from many differ- 

 ent causes. They arc often 

 kindled along railroads by 

 sparks from tlie locomo- 

 tives. Carelessness is re- 

 sponsible for many lires. 

 Settlers and farmers clear- 

 ing land or burning grass 

 and brush often allow the 

 fire to escape into the 

 woods. (See fig. 73.) 

 Some one may drop a half- 

 burned match or the glow- 

 ing tobacco of a pipe or 

 cigar, or a hunter or 

 prospector may neglect to 

 extinguish his camp fire, 

 or mav build it Avhere it 



I. 



will burrow into the thick 

 duff far beyond his reach, 



to smolder for days, or weeks, and perhaps to break 

 out as a destructive fire long after he is gone. Many 

 fires are set for malice or revenge, and the forest is often 

 burned over by huckleberry pickers to increase the next 

 season's growth of berries, or by the owners of cattle 

 or sheep to make better pasture for their herds. 



Fig. 72.— a young Ked Fir bent down by- 

 snow in early youth. It is scarred by 

 lire on the underside. Washington 

 Forest Keserve. 



