160 



conscious or otherwise, of the policy of growing wood crops for the 

 farm. Instead of retaining two thirds of the farm woodland as forest, 

 the owners are actually engaged in clearing for pasturage 85 per cent 

 of their present woodlands by a most inefficient and time-consuming 

 method. 



It seems probable that a more enlightened and profitable policy would 

 be to recognize this conflict, and to definitely decide upon the areas de- 

 sired for permanent forest and for permanent grazing. Then these areas 

 should be separated by fence, excluding the stock from the true forest 

 area, and the pasture areas should be cleared as rapidly as possible of all 

 forest growth. The relative percentage of forest and pasture desired 

 must be worked out by each owner, with the advice of the state depart- 

 ment of forestry as to true forest values as a guide in this determination. 



Fire in Forest Lands 



Forestry Circular No. 2 of the Natural History Survey has set forth 

 the damage done by fires in Illinois woodlands. It is sufficient here 

 to summarize. 



In the hardwood forest areas, which comprise practically all of the 

 Illinois woodlands, fire is an unmitigated evil. There is no class of 

 fire which does any benefit whatever to the forest. It neither benefits 

 reproduction nor reduces the danger of subsequent fires. Instead it 

 makes the recurrence of fires more certain and their character more 

 disastrous. There is but one thing which fires accomplish; they pro- 

 gressively destroy the forests. The process is much the same as that 

 of grazing. The reproduction of seedlings is killed as fast as it occurs, 

 and this eventually — by opening up the forest and bringing in hea\'y sod 

 and a tangle of briers and brush — prevents tree reproduction from sur- 

 viving or even starting. Fire acts far more rapidly and disastrously 

 than grazing upon the mature stand. Occasionally the entire stand is 

 killed. With hardwoods this usually occurs when the stand is fairly 

 small and young. The butts of the older trees, even though protected 

 by heavy bark, are sooner or later fire-scarred by killing the cambium 

 or live tissue on the most exposed side and this would eventually, perhaps 

 many years later, cause the destruction of the tree by rot and blow-down. 

 It is safe to say that every fire permitted to burn through a woodland 

 area destroys the equivalent of a year's increase at the very least.. This 

 when harvested would be worth from $3 to $12 per acre. 



