FOREST FIRES. 



77 



kept better pace with each other. (See figs. 71, 72, and 

 PI. XL.) In many regions snow is so useful in protect- 

 ing the soil and the young trees that the harm it does 

 is quite overbalanced by its benefits. 



FOREST FIRES. 



Of all the foes which attack the woodlands of North 

 America no other is so terrible as fire. Forest fires 

 spring from many diifer- 

 ent causes. They are often 

 kindled alongrailroadsby 

 sparks from the locomo- 

 tives. Carelessness is re- 

 sponsible for many fires. 

 Settlers and farmers clear- 

 ing land or burning grass 

 and brush often allow the 

 fire to escape into the 

 woods. (See fig. 73.) 

 Some one may drop a half- 

 burned match or the glow- 

 ing tobacco of a pipe or 

 cigar, or a hunter or 

 prospector may neglect to 

 extinguish his camp fire, 

 or may build it where it 

 will burrow into the thick 

 duff' far beyond his reach, 



to smolder for days, or weeks, and perhaps to break 

 out as a destructive fire long after he is gone. Many 

 fires are set for malice or revenge, and the forest is often 

 burned over by huckleberry pickers to increase the next 

 season's growth of berries, or by the owners of cattle 

 or sheep to make better pasture for their herds. 



FIG. 72. A young Red Fir bent down by 

 snow in early youth. It is scarred by 

 fire on the underside. Washington 

 Forest Reserve. 



