FOREST NOTES 



The first reports of forest fires have 

 begun to come in to Washington from 

 the national forests, and they indicate 

 to the federal officers an early start of 

 the fire season, with unfavorable 

 weather conditions from the very be- 

 ginning. In the northwest there was 

 less snow on the mountains at the end 

 of the winter than for many years past. 

 Railroad rights of way, which were last 

 year deep in snow, are reported clear 

 now and dry enough to burn readily. 



From the Canadian border to Mexico 

 the reports are similar, and there have 

 already been extensive fires in Cali- 

 fornia and Arizona. 



The Chief Forester reports, however, 

 that the fire-fighting forces of the serv- 

 ice are organized better than ever be- 

 fore, particularly in respect to the fire 

 detection system of lookout stations. 

 By means of these stations fires are re- 

 ported quickly and accurately, so that 

 the control forces may be on the ground 

 at the earliest possible moment. 



In those States where the gravest 

 danger threatens, special efforts are be- 

 ing made by the government foresters 

 and by cooperative fire protection asso- 

 ciations organized among timberland 

 owners, to secure care with fire on the 

 part of campers, prospectors, loggers, 

 and by railroads. The Northwestern 

 Forestry and Conservation Association, 

 with headquarters at Portland, Oregon, 

 is one of the leaders in this campaign. 



as shown by yields of corn, is given in 

 figures just issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture. The department there- 

 fore advocates the use of various meth- 

 ods to introduce the required humus 

 into the soil. 



Experts of the forest service state 

 that the soils of the whole country, and 

 particularly of the South, have lost and 

 are losing immense amounts of this 

 source of soil fertility through forest 

 fires which apparently do little imme- 

 diate damage but rob the soil of accum- 

 ulations of humus. In many parts of 

 the South, land is being cleared for 

 farming, and where such forest land 

 has not been burned, there is a large 

 percentage of vegetable matter, which 

 provides considerable fertility, and a 

 good texture. Moreover, this soil has 

 a greater capacity to absorb and retain 

 moisture, and thus is less likely to be 

 washed and gullied under heavy rains. 

 For these reasons, leaving out of ac- 

 count the damage to standing timber, 

 the department's authorities are agreed 

 that fire should be rigidly kept out of 

 woodlands. 



A definite relation between the 

 amount of humus, or vegetable matter 

 in the soil, and its crop-producing power 



460 



The President, upon the recommenda- 

 tion of Secretary Lane, has eliminated 

 from the Toiyabe National Forest in 

 the State of Nevada 38,30(5 acres of 

 land, of which 38,079 acres is public 

 land, the remainder having heretofore 

 been disposed of under the public land 

 laws. 



A similar restoration has been made 

 of 32,740 acres from the Siskiyou Na- 

 tional Forest in the State of Oregon, 



