1 88 North American Forests and Forestry 



Effective as these means of fire protection have 

 proven to be, they are evidently applicable to our 

 conditions to a limited extent only. They pre- 

 suppose a cultivated forest where roads and rides 

 either exist already or can be built without an ex- 

 pense greater than the business can bear. Most of 

 our large forests are remote from the densely set- 

 tled districts ; they extend over areas immensely 

 larger than even the greatest forests of Central 

 Europe ; and hardly an acre of it has been subject 

 to silvicultural operations. Roads are few, and 

 before a network of roads and lanes can come into 

 existence, many decades will elapse. Clearly, then, 

 if we are to have fire protection, we must for some 

 time to come get it in a different manner from that 

 prevailing in Europe. 



It may be stated right here that the available 

 means of protection here proposed, and which are 

 in partially successful operation in several States, 

 will not, even if employed to their fullest possible 

 extent, do away with forest fires entirely. That 

 result can be obtained by no means other than 

 those adopted in Europe. But it is possible to 

 very materially reduce the damage done by the 

 flames, and to reduce the number of fires a great 

 many times. This is something worth doing, es- 

 pecially as every step in that direction will bring us 

 nearer to the conditions under which the more 

 perfect system is possible. 



To let the reader understand this matter clearly, 

 I must again dwell upon the point that all fires can 



