THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



acres of woods were burned over, the loss being 

 given at over one hundred thousand dollars. In 

 Pennsylvania, where the value of forest property is 

 more appreciated than in Massachusetts, and the 

 lumbering interests are only second to those of 

 Michigan, 685,738 acres of forest are reported 

 burned over during the year, with a loss of over j 

 three million dollars. It is not probable that these ' 

 statements are exaggerated, and in the case of 

 Pennsylvania they undoubtedly do not fully repre- 

 sent the actual loss from this cause. The returns 

 show that 3,988 acres of the forest destroyed by , 

 fire during that year in Massachusetts were in 1 

 Barnstable County ; that Berkshire County lost I 

 1,377 acres; that Hampshire lost 1,150; Essex, 

 1,780; while in Bristol, Dukes and Hampden the 

 loss was in each case below 1,000 acres, and that 

 Franklin only suffered a loss of one hundred 

 acres. i 



During the present year a great tract of tree- ! 

 covered land, probably nearly 7,000 acres in extent, ! 

 not ver)' valuable forest to be sure, still of very 

 great prospective value at least, was burned over 

 in Barnsiable County, and the average annual 

 losses by forest fires in Massachusetts may prob- 

 ably be safely put down at some 10,000 acres. 

 The loss is considerable, but hardly enough to 

 cause any serious anxiety if it was confined to the 

 actual destruction of the wood growing upon the 

 land. But forest fires destroy not only the grow- 

 ing wood but the fertility of the soil itself and its 

 capacity to produce valuable trees again ; they, 

 destroy, moreover, the confidence of the com- 

 munity in the value and stability of forest property. 

 The destruction by fire, then, of the wood standing 

 upon a few thousand acres, more or less, does not 

 by any means represent the entire or more than a 

 small portion of the loss which forest fires entail 

 upon the State. 



Sufficient attention has not been paid to the 

 effects of forest fires upon the soil and the subse- 

 quent growth of plants. We have been accus- 

 tomed, in treating forest fires, too generally to 

 consider the damage done to the growing wood 

 alone, and have not considered the much greater 

 loss the land itself suffers from being burned over. 

 If only a portion of the trees growing on a tract of 

 land are cut, a sufficient number being left to pro- 

 tect the soil and produce a s^ipply of seed, — if these 

 are guarded from fire and browsing animals which, 1 

 next to fire, are the most active and destructive 

 enemies of the forest, the same species will con- 

 tinue to grow almost indefinitely and a constant 

 succession of young trees will regularly spring up 



to replace those which have been removed. This 

 is a system of forest management very often adopt- 

 ed, especially with certain varieties of trees, where 

 scientific forest management prevails; and it is on 

 many accounts a very sensible and economical 

 method, although, of course, susceptible of very 

 considerable modifications to meet peculiar cases 

 of forest growth or climatic conditions. If, on the 

 other hand, a forest is destroyed by fire which kills 

 the trees and undergrowth of shrubs and herbs, 

 the same species, except in the case of some of our 

 least valuable trees, rarely spring up again. Let 

 us take the case of a white pine forest, because the 

 white pine is probably the most valuable forest 

 tree to-day in New England and because we are 

 all familiar with its habit of growth. If a forest of 

 white pine is destroyed by fire this tree does not 

 spring up again. The land which, if only a part 

 of the trees had been cut, would have continued 

 to produce pines indefinitely, is not covered again 

 with any growth of trees for a considerable period. 

 The fire-weed first makes its appearance. The 

 light seed of this plant is often blown for a long 

 distance, and falling upon bare ground germinates 

 quickly, and finally covers the burned surface 

 with vegetation. Birds drop the seeds of rasp- 

 berries and blackberries, which find sufficient 

 nourishment and light for germination. These, as 

 they grow, cover the ground, and afford protec- 

 tion to the stones of the little mountain cherry, 

 dropped by birds also, or the light seeds of the gray 

 birch, or some of the willows or poplars, which are 

 constantly blowing about, and which will germi- 

 nate anywhere upon unshaded ground, however 

 barren. 



These are generally the first trees which succeed 

 a white pine forest destroyed by fire ; but years 

 often elapse before the ground is covered even with 

 such trees. Nature works slowly, and the wounds 

 made by fire on the earth's covering of trees are 

 only healed under the most favorable conditions 

 through the gradual growth and decay of many 

 generations of plants. The cherries and the birch 

 and poplars are short lived, and unless burned up, 

 when the same process of recovering the soil com- 

 mences again, are succeeded by more valuable 

 broad-leaved trees. Squirrels and other animals 

 deposit acorns and nuts in the ground, and the 

 wind brings the seeds of maples, ashes, and the 

 valuable birches. Such seeds find protection 

 among the poplars and willows which had sprung 

 up on the burned land, and as these die, the 

 more valuable trees get a chance to grow and 

 gradually occupy the ground. This new forest of 



