1306 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



HARVARD 



UNIVERSITY 



DEPT. OF FORESTRY 

 BUSSEY INSTITUTION 



/~\FFERS specialized graduate 

 training leading to the de- 

 gree of Master of Forestry in the 

 following fields : — Silviculture 

 and Management, Wood Tech- 

 nology, Forest Entomology 

 Dendrology, and (in co-opera- 

 tion with the Graduate School 

 of Business Administration) the 

 Lumber Business. 



For further particulars 

 address 



RICHARD T. FISHER 



Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 



School of Forestry 



UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO 



Four Year Course, with op-, 

 portunity to specialize in 

 General Forestry, Log- 

 ging Engineering, and 

 Forest Grazing. 



Forest Ranger Course of 



high school grade, cover- 

 ing three years of five 

 months each. 



Special Short Course cover- 

 ing tvv^elve weeks design- 

 ed for those who cannot 

 take the time for the 

 fuller courses. 



Correspondence Course in 



Lumber and Its Uses. No 

 tuition, and otherwise ex- 

 penses are the lowest. 



For Further Particulars Address 



Dean, School of Forestry 



University of Idaho 



Moscow, Idaho 



FOREST DESTRUCTION PRE- 

 VENTED BY CONTROL OF 

 SURFACE FIRES 



(Continued from Pai/e 1264) 

 from five to fifty years, the periodical rota- 

 tion depending upon the local rate of litter 

 accumulation. The litter is then too wet to 

 cause crown or ground fires. 



2. Do not light fires in the forest litter 

 after the humus becomes dry. A wet humus 

 serves as an index to the safe firing season 

 and prevents ground fires. 



3. Do not light fires while a high wind 

 is prevailing. 



4. Burn the snags in mid-winter when 

 the conditions are unfavorable for fires. 



5. Fire tlie lodgments of litter while 

 conditions are still unfavorable for surface 

 fires. 



6. Light the first fires over the areas of 

 least litter and least density of stand. 



7. Backfire from the barriers. These 

 barriers may be roads, trails, canals, barren 

 and cultivated areas, recently burned-over 

 areas, bodies of water, ice and snow, and 

 barriers scraped for the purpose. 



8. Burn over the southerly slopes while 

 the snow is on the north slopes. 



9. Burn downward from the tops of 

 the slopes. 



10. Fire the ridges before the slopes and 

 the slopes before the ravines. 



11. In initiating fire control, the order 

 of burning should be as follows for a five 

 year rotation ; 



1st year — Standing dead trees. 

 2nd year — Ridges. 

 3rd year — South slopes. 

 4th year — North slopes. 

 5th year — Ravines. 



These rules will often conflict and re- 

 quire a logical interpretation to fit the local 

 conditions. No firing should be done with- 

 out a thorough investigation of the litter 

 conditions, topography, barriers, species and 

 ages of trees and a study of the fire re- 

 sistance of various species of trees. Stand- 

 ing dead snags, fallen trees, underbrush, 

 limbs, cones, leaves, needles, weeds and any 

 dead and inflammable material should be 

 included as litter. 



The importance of fire as a silvicultural 

 agent in the coniferous forests has been 

 recognized in that it has become the gen- 

 eral practice to burn over cuttings to in- 

 sure reproduction. The fires must be con- 

 fined, of course, to moderate surface fires 

 as would be possible if the foregoing rules 

 are used. Fire is an aid to reproduction 

 as it creates favorable conditions for the 

 germination of the seeds, by removing com- 

 petition, preparing the seed bed. opening 

 the closed cones and releasing the seeds, 

 temporarily driving away seed eating ro- 

 dents, and removing insects and fungus. 

 Fire serves to keep a forest clean and 

 healthy by removing the insects and fungus 

 diseases which have their origin in the 

 rotting litter on the forest floor. The use 

 of fire is a silvicultural method particularly 

 adaptable to the coniferous forests because 



of their great fire resistance and the fire 

 favors the more valuable species and the 

 high-limbing sports. A young conifer tree 

 will withstand the intense heat which kills 

 all but the topmost branches and the ef- 

 fect is similiar to that in the pruning of a 

 fruit tree — more vigor is put into the trunk 

 and the new growth. 



Our attempt to maintain the non-fire 

 policy has shown that forest fires are in- 

 evitable where the forests contain a large 

 proportion of inflammable litter. The de- 

 struction by fire increases as the litter in- 

 creases. "Fire prevention," so called, simply 

 delays the burning u|) of the last conifer 

 tree where it stands. 



The use and control of the surface fire is 

 the solution of the fire problem in the 

 coniferous forests. 



PIGEONS WILL PROTECT FORESTS. 



TPHE War, Navy and Interior Depart- 

 ments, according to information just re- 

 ceived by the Manufacturers .-Mrcraft Asso- 

 ciation, New York, are co-operating in the 

 forest patrol. The idea of such a guard 

 against timber fires occurred simulta- 

 neously to the Forest Service and to the 

 air service of the Army. Now comes the 

 Navy Department with the offer to estab- 

 lish pigeon lofts in the forest reserves and 

 to provide the forest airplane patrol with 

 carrier pigeons whose duty it would be to 

 carry messages direct to home relief sta- 

 tions whenever a fire is discovered. 



The pigeon branch of the Navy is ex- 

 panding under the direction of Lieutenant 

 McAtee, and recruits are now sought for 

 this service, which is so closely akin to 

 aviation that it is under the same general 

 administration. 



During the war there was no opportunity 

 to train men for this important duty, but 

 now a special school has been opened at 

 Anacostia and twenty enlisted men are re- 

 ceiving daily instruction in the training 

 and keeping of carrier pigeons. At the 

 same time these men have opportunity to 

 put their learning to practical uses. 



The pigeon branch of the Navy has 2,500 

 birds. Plenty are available for the forest 

 patrol. Experiments are going on con- 

 stantly in the effort to increase the effi- 

 ciency of the birds. Pigeons took an im- 

 portant part in naval warfare overseas. It 

 has been proved that pigeons can fly at a 

 speed at least equal to that of a sea plane 

 or flying boat. 



A REAL COMPLIMENT. 



"We have been a member of your Asso- 

 ciation for some time and receive from 

 month to month your magazine, which is 

 certainly an up-to-date periodical along the 

 line for which it is intended. We con- 

 gratulate you on the work you are doing in 

 the Association in educating the people 

 as to the necessity of not only conserving 

 the present standing timber but also the 

 possibility of producing new growths." 

 Haines Lumber Company. 



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