177 



This shows what we can rely upon in this section of the country, and, hence it was evi- 

 dent, that in about one generation the supply of timber in the United States would be 

 almost completely exhausted unless means were taken to protect it, and prevent the present 

 frightful waste. 



At the close of President Loring's address, Mr. B. E. Fernow, of Slatington, Penn- 

 sylvania, asked whether the special Committee appointed at the Meeting in Cincinnati to 

 consider the subject of 



Forest Fires 

 was prepared to report. 



Dr. Charles Mohr said, that, in absence of the Chairman of the Committee, he had 

 himself prepared a report on forest fires, and the injuries caused to the forests by inroads 

 of cattle, which he would read. 



The following is an abstract of his report so far as the points considered bear upon 

 the conditions affecting the forests of Canada : — 



I find myself not prepared to present a formal report, the result of joint deliberations, 

 but venture to lay before the meeting simply a statement of the facts arrived at by the 

 limited inquiries and observations made in regard to it in the great lumbering districts of 

 the pine regions. Of these, like other forests regions, it can be said, that the tires raging 

 season after season through their forest have caused a greater and more irreparable de- 

 struction, inflicting a deeper harm than all the devastation brought about by the combined 

 lumber industries of the past and the present day. The practice of setting fire to the 

 woods existed among the Indians before the arrival of the whites. The white settler to meet 

 the necessities of his existence, had to spend the energies of his life in the destruction of its 

 forest growth, engendering a habit of destruction and a disregard for the forest, which, 

 under vastly altered circumstances still comes into active play, leading to a needless 

 devastation and neglect of the preservation of the forest, detrimental to private interests 

 as well as to the public wefare. Many of the forest fires are the consequence of careles.s- 

 ness, neglect, and utter indifference to their consequences, as frequently they are wilfully 

 started to serve some purpose. 



The first efiect of these fires is the total destruction of the pine seedlings, which, to- 

 gether with the younger growth, are not strong enough to resist the effect of the scorching 

 to which they were exposed. 



Another effect leading pecuniarly to enormous losses, is the arrest of the growth in 

 the trees exposed to these conflagrations. This is most remarkable, and no doubt due to 

 the injurious effects of the heat. 



Another most pernicious effect resulting from the recurring fires is the total destruc- 

 tion of every particle of organic matter in the surface soil, reducing it to a state of arid, 

 barren sand of absolute sterility. All efforts of single individuals are of no avail in abating 

 this crying evil, they must be persisted in by the community, and it is only by judicious 

 legislation that its correction can be reached. 



Injuries by Cattle. 



The injuries resulting to the forest from the inroads of live stock are, direct and in- 

 direct, scarcely less detrimental to its preservation than those sustained by fire. The 

 unrestricted pasturing of cattle leads more slowly, but not less surely, to its final destruc- 

 tion. The direct injuries result from the browsing and eating of the tender plants in their 

 youngest state, and of the young shoots ; the tearing, breaking, and tramping down of the 

 small growth, leading to its mutilation and premature decay, or to their being killed out- 

 right ; in short, to the impossibility of the rejuvenation of the forest by its natural seed- 

 ing. In the pine lands these injuries are less apparent, and less fatal to the progeny of 

 the pine, the young trees being not eaten by stick, and the chief injuries to them result 

 from tramping. The running at large of live stock is indirectly injurious to the forests 

 by reason of the enormous draft upon its resources of timber to build fences for the pro- 

 tection of the crops from the cattle. The enormous sacrifices of timber and labour 

 required in the fencing of tilled lands are a great drawback to the tiller of the soil, which 



12 (f. G.) 



