REGISTER OF FIRES. 



645 



forests the danger from fire is probably greatest in May and 

 June, whilst in the eastern parts in Bengal and Assam, 

 where spring rains occur, the forests are fairly safe from 

 fire in May, owing to the growth of fresh grass, which is 

 incombustible. 



4. Register of Fires. 



Forest fires are of frequent occurrence in the heathlands 

 of Berkshire, Surrey and Hampshire. They are not unfre- 

 quent in Germany in spite of the great care taken to prevent 

 them, but their extent and frequency are inconsiderable when 

 compared with Austria, the South of France, Sweden, Norway, 

 Eussia, Greece, India and North America. In this last 

 country, forest fires frequently extend over hundreds of square 

 miles of forest, and little or no trouble is taken to extinguish 

 or prevent them. The most disastrous forest fires which 

 have occurred in Germany during the present century are 

 given below : 



1800, 4th to 21st August, 5,675 acres in the Black Forest 

 near the Katzenkopf in Wiirttemberg. 



1863, 28th to 30th August, 3,300 acres near Konigsbruch in 

 W. Prussia. 



1880, 1st to 3rd May, 3,250 acres on the Liineburg heath. 



In the Prussian State forests, during the interval 1892 

 1898, the following damage by fires was done : 



It may be stated that, in Germany, on the average, out of 

 2,500 acres of forest half an acre is burned annually, or 0*02 per 

 cent, of the forest area. 



In Austria, in 188185, there were 1,717 fires over 16,378 

 acres, the amount of damage done being 10,367. 



