22 Common Trees 



throw off disease. To accomplish this we must keep our for- 

 ests clean. Unless we do this we will pay an ever increasing 

 price for lumber, and later on we will have no more forests 

 to draw on. 



The greatest enemy of our trees is fire. The carelessness 

 of man is responsible for nearly all forest fires. With this 

 in mind, let us consider a few of the things forest fires do. 



1. Forest fires destroy the beauty of the woodlands. 



2. They destroy animal and plant life. 



3. They destroy tree seeds and seedlings that would grow 

 into valuable stands of timber. 



4. They kill an enormous number of promising young, 

 middle-aged and old trees. 



5. They consume large quantities of felled timber and 

 other forest products, 



6. They destroy the leaf litter on the forest floor. 



7. They impoverish the forest soil. Many bare and sterile 

 hillsides arc the result of repeated forest fires. 



8. Forest fires open the way for the destructive work of 

 insects, fungi, erosion, floods, and drought. 



9. They frequently destroy buildings, crops, and fences, 

 and occasionally homes. 



10. They may also be responsible for the loss of human 

 lives. 



There is no end to the damage forest fires do. They bring 

 no good to anyone. In their wake we find waste and impov- 

 erishment. To prove our citizenship we must begin right 

 now to battle this red foe. 



Every boy and girl should become a tree protector, and it 

 would be well for the grown-ups to turn a heedful ear to the 

 lessons of forest protection. If we want to continue as a 

 nation of wood users we must become a nation of wood 

 growers. To do this effectively we must wage a constant 

 warfare against the foes of our friends — the trees. PRE- 

 VENT FOREST FIRES— IT PAYS is a slogan that should 

 be repeated over and over again until it becomes a household 

 word, for everybody loses when our forests burn. 



WHAT FORESTRY IS 



FORESTRY is the art of handling forest land in such a 

 way that it will be of the greatest service to man. This 

 implies a good working knowledge of forest trees, for they 

 are the principal members in the make-up of the forest. A 



