122 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



More than ten million dollars worth of timber was burned, and 

 several hundred persons perished. 



The Hinckley Fire occurred Sept. i, 1894, and was the 

 most destructive fire of recent years. Hinckley, Minnesota, and 

 several other towns were destroyed, about 500 lives were lost, 

 and more than 2,000 persons were left destitute. It is esti- 

 mated that the loss in property amounted to about $25,000,000. 

 The loss of life from this fire would have been much more than 

 stated had it not been for the fact that the railroad companies 

 ran special trains to carry the settlers away from the flames. 

 This fire was wholly unnecessary, and could easily have been 

 put out in its earlier stages. For two weeks previous to the 

 breaking out of this fire into an uncontrollable mass of flame 

 small fires had been raging in swamps about Hinckley, and filled 

 the town with dense smoke, and it was only when these became 

 united under the direction of a hot south wind that it passed 

 beyond control. Had the present forest fire law of Minnesota 

 been in force at that time this fire would undoubtedly have been 

 prevented. 



Forest and Pasture. When forests are used as pasture, 

 the cattle will eat the foliage of many species, provided it is 

 within their reach. They also trample on the young seedlings, 

 and destroy them in this way. As a result, all good foresters are 

 opposed to the pasturing of cattle in woodlands. Especially is 

 this the case where the trees are of the broad-leaved species, 

 which* are preferred by cattle. However, in the case of well 

 established forests, in which there- is no special desire for a 

 renewal of growth from seed, no great injury can come from 

 moderate pasturing. Cattle are rigidly excluded from most 

 European forests, but in some of the more remote districts, 

 where timber is still quite cheap, it is customary to pasture for- 

 ests. Of course, where the range is large and not fully stocked, 

 the injury is much less than where the range is crowded. This 

 combination of forest and. pasture has led to the use of several 

 methods of protecting young seedlings against cattle, among the 

 first of which might be mentioned the planting of seedling 

 conifers between the buttresses of old stumps, where it would be 

 very unlikely that the cattle would step on them. It is also 

 practiced to protect the seedlings by driving two strong stakes 



