14 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



require long, patient and persistent work to educate the 

 masses in this matter. We hear sometimes of the great 

 amount of "waste hinds" in Maine meaning such htnd as can 

 not be cultivated. There are thousands of acres of such rocky 

 land that is growing a more valuable crop than the average of 

 farming lands, and that too without the aid of cultivation or 

 fertilizers, all the demand this land makes upon us is to be 

 let alone. 



There is not one acre of land with any forest growth upon 

 it that is not justly entitled to the protection of law. There 

 is no doubt that the time is coming when our people will fully 

 appreciate the importance of protecting our forests, but the 

 question is, whether the note of warning can be sounded loud 

 enough and long enough to arouse public sentiment in season 

 to avail ourselves of what we now have but are liable to lose. 

 A forest fire may burn for weeks in some localities in this 

 State and hardly attract attention because it is taken for 

 granted that it is an unavoidable circumstance, A settler 

 will set fire to his clearing or perhaps to a brush pile at a 

 time when he knows that he is exposing thousands of dollars 

 of forest growth to the ravages of fire, and look upon the 

 devastation he has caused as inevitable. 



The devastation of a forest fire is usually underestimated. 

 Fires occur in our cities destroying ware houses that are 

 occupied for business purposes, the blackened walls remain 

 for a time to mark the spot where once stood a busy mart. 

 The owner either sells to others or with the aid of his insur- 

 ance builds better than before and the result is a better 

 appearance than ever and the waste is repaired and improved. 

 Suppose a forest fire occurs destroying an equal amount of 

 property, what is the result? The owner cannot protect 

 himself by insurance but must stand the loss, that is the result 

 as far as he is interested, but what is the appearance of the 

 tract thus deprived of all its beauty. The pride and glory of 

 our State is its splendid forests not burned over, but clothed 

 in their natural robe of green. Who ever visited our State 



