Fighting Fires and Thieves 203 



any more than how to plow or milk the cows ? As 

 for forestry, readers of this book I trust realize by 

 this time that planting shade trees along roads or 

 ornamental trees on lawns is something entirely 

 different from forestry. Farmers ought to learn 

 how to treat their timber-lots, better than they now 

 usually do, and on the western plains, where there 

 are no natural timber-lots, they should be encour- 

 aged to plant them. This they must learn as they 

 learn other agricultural operations, but no good 

 can come from talking to the children at the dis- 

 trict school about such things instead of teaching 

 them the " three Rs." I am sure that every sane 

 forester will agree to this. But on the other hand 

 it is eminently proper for rural teachers, in the 

 localities where forest fires are a constant menace, 

 to impress on their pupils by precept, instruction, 

 and example the duty of being careful about fire in 

 the woods. This is not instruction in forestry, but 

 simply a part of that moral influence a good teacher 

 is expected to exert upon the children under his or 

 her care. It is natural in such places to dwell par- 

 ticularly on the matter of negligence with fires, 

 because that is one of the most prevalent vices 

 there, just as in cities a teacher would naturally lay 

 most stress on the moral offences to which children 

 in such localities are likely to be most given. 



Not a little educational influence is likewise ex- 

 erted, I have no doubt, by the practice adopted 

 in many localities of late of placing sign-boards 

 in exposed places warning people to be careful. 



