FOREST FIRE RISK IN MASSACHUSETTS 763 



One will note from the tables that this district has the smallest fire 

 risk. This is undoubtedly due to three factors — small population, a 

 moisture-retentive soil, and a good forest cover w^hich has not been 

 severely cut over. Of the three I give first importance to population, 

 because a glance at the map indicates that most of the small number 

 of fires are near the larger tov^ns. 



Connecticut Valley. — The tier of towns on either bank of the Con- 

 necticut River comprise this district. The land is flat, and the alluvial 

 soil deep and rich. Almost every acre is under the plow, and forest 

 does not cover ten per cent of the area. Besides an intensive farming 

 population there are numerous cities and towns, so that the population 

 ratio is high. In spite of this fact there are few fires, because there is 

 nothing to burn. Every acre is in tillage. 



Central Highlands. — This section includes Worcester County and 

 the easterly ends of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties. 

 It is a country of rounded, flat-topped hills intersected with shallow 

 valleys. Elevations range between 800 and 1,500 feet. The under- 

 lying rock is granite, but this is well covered with a deep glacial soil. 

 Strange to say, the soil is sandy in the river valleys and loamy on the 

 hills. The country is well forested to the extent of about 60 per cent 

 of the area, but the forest is broken by areas of cultivated land. The 

 forest has been severely cut, and there is much slash and sprout land 

 as a result. Population figures show 235 to the square mile, but it is 

 irregularly distributed, more than two-thirds of it being in five or six 

 cities in the district, and the bulk of the towns are rural, some of them 

 quite sparsely settled. Considering the high population ratio, and the 

 large amount of forest land, much of it recently cut over, the fire rate 

 is very small. 



Eastern Section. — This includes all of the State east of Worcester 

 County with the exception of Cape Cod. It lies largely within 40 miles 

 of Boston, and is a region of cities and large towns. In spite of this 

 fact there is a considerable area of forest land, not less than 40 per 

 cent of the area being wooded. The topography is made up of low 

 rounded hills, with a deep gravel loam soil. Small rivers and brooks 

 abound in the valleys. Agriculture is carried on both in valleys and on 

 hilltops. This region might have been divided into southeastern and 

 northeastern, as the country west and north of Boston is somewhat 

 diflferent from that to the south. The first-mentioned section, included 

 in Middlesex and Essex Counties, has a better soil and has a larger 

 percentage of agricultural land, so that forest land is cut up into smaller 



