FOREST CONDITIONS OF MISSISSIPPI. 51 



few scattered sickly blades of grass whose roots the fire has 

 not killed." 



The forest fires, to be sure, are usually only surface fires, 

 because there is no great accumulation of leaf and branch 

 litter, and they rarely get into the tops of the trees and 

 destroy them, but such fires are particularly injurious 

 because they are the cause of the almost total absence of 

 pine reproduction on cut-over land. 



A single fire seldom seriously injures large, healthy 

 longleaf pines because of the fire-resisting properties of the 

 bark, but if this bark has been injured, as often happens, by 

 insects or other causes, the fire obtains entrance and eats 

 into the bases until the trees become so weakened that they 

 are easily blown down. Fire, moreover, retards the growth 

 of large pines by impoverishing the soil and heating the 

 growing layer which is immediately beneath the bark. 

 When trees have been boxed for turpentine, great injury is 

 done by fire. 



In hardwood forests, fires are less prevalent owing to the 

 moist soil conditions. Wherever they do occur, they injure 

 the large, valuable hardwood trees by burning them at the 

 base and causing large scars. These scars open the way for 

 the attack of insects and fungi which causes the decay and 

 finally the death of the trees. Here again the greatest dam- 

 age is the destruction of the reproduction. 



Forest fires in Mississippi are mainly attributable to the 

 general indifference to the results. In addition to the fires 

 set for the supposed improvement of pasturage, which 

 probably cause the most extensive burning of the woods, 

 many are started by careless hunters and men engaged in 

 forest occupations, while many others are due to wood and 

 coal-burning locomotives. 



If a system of forest-fire prevention had been inau- 

 gurated fifty years ago, the resulting increase in the wealth 

 of the State would have been tremendous. In most locali- 

 ties where lumbering has been going on for half a century or 

 longer, there would still be a plentiful supply of second- 

 growth timber, and the cleared lands in most parts of the 

 State would be vastly more valuable than they are for 



