COAL COMPANY PRACTICES FORESTRY 



869 



ki-:movinc. ttrf and digginc, hole 



This is the first operation in the planting of the waste lands of the 

 Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. The planting crew follows with the 

 seedlings and the operation is quickly completed. 



The duties of the rangers are similar to those of the State 

 Forestry Department. During the forest fire season, they 

 continually patrol the property, when not fighting fires 

 In other seasons of the year they assist in cutting and 

 cleaning fire barriers, building trails, cutting timber, etc. 

 During the spring and fall fire seasons, the force of 

 rangers is increased two and three fold. 



The rangers are equipped with fire extinguishers, hold- 

 ing 2J^ gallons of chemical mi.xture. Connected with 

 the extinguisher is a water-proof bag. holding 8 gallon> 

 of water, from which the extinguisher can be recharged. 

 We have found this device of great value, particularly in 

 burning fire lines and back fires. 



The power transmission lines radiating from the Le- 

 high Navigation Electric Company's new power plant 

 at Hauto to the coal and cement regions, are kept clear, 

 and thus serve as fire barriers to a good advantage. 



On the llroad Mountain barriers .'id to 4(( feet wide 

 have been cut through the largest isolated tract to aid 

 in the rapid transportation of labor to fires. Some of 

 these barriers have been plowed, and in time will be de- 

 veloped into roads, which can be used for transporting 

 timber. 



There are spots along these barriers where the moun- 

 tain is so rough as to prevent plowing ; at such places 

 two 8-foot parallel strips are cut, leaving 20 feet of uncut 

 brush between the two strips. It is then an easy matter 

 to burn the 20 foot strips each year. This method elimi- 

 nates the cost of cutting and plowing. 



In nianv instances the fires cannot be extinguished by 

 the ranges, and in such cases the Department procures 

 laborers from the dift'erent operations of the company, 

 or when the fire is located at too great a distance from 

 the operations, they procure the service of persons living 

 nearest to the scene of the fire. 



The Bov Scotits of America of this section recently or- 

 ganized, the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., lending its 

 moral support, take considerable interest in the preven- 

 tion and extinguishing of forest fires. It has been found 

 that half a dozen enthusiastic Boy Scouts from fourteen 

 to eighteen years of age, can get to a forest fire and put 

 it out before other ordinary labor arrives. 



Farmers and adjoining land owners cooperate with the 

 Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. in the work toward the 

 prevention of unnecessary losses due to fires. 



The following table, showing a comparison of fires 

 during 1914, the first year of the department's work, 

 with that of the year preceding it, shows a marked im- 

 provement in the losses, notwithstanding the fact that the 

 dry weather conditions during the forest fire seasons in 

 the year 1914 increased the number of fires 50 per cent. 



1914 1913 Change 



Number of fires 102 r,8 +34 



Area burned, acres... 1420 15000 —13580 



Cost of extinguishing $882.71 $1912.70 —$1029.90 



Attention is called to the fact that while the number of 



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PL.-^NTING THE WHITE Pl.XE 



Most satisfactory results were obtained from this planting. Here the 

 planter is banking up the earth around a four-year old transplant 

 which is so hardy and strong that only a small jtercentage fail to 

 grow. 



fires in 1914 increased 50 per cent the acreage burned 

 was less than one tenth of the 1913 figures. 



.\s previously referred to, there are a number of stands 

 of good timber scattered through the Company's land, 

 consisting mostly of mixed hardwoods, a large percent- 



