MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 15 



sh.'w that 60 per cent of all the tires in the Michigan and Wisconsin have very little of A thorough private patrol backed by a law 



live years preceding 1910 were set by home- that kind of timber left. like that proposed for Wisconsin, under which 



er,-. 15 per cent by railroads, and 25 per The burn i ng o f slashings in most cases only tlle state would provide a regular patrolman 



cent by campers, careless hunters and others, re Heves the situation temporarily, for no one icr every 40.000 acres or less of forest land, 



including the lumbermen. It seems probable fi re w j;j ta k e tne stumps and old wet logs. w '' ; l go a long way toward eliminating fires, 



that the number of fires for which the lumber wb ich when well rotted burn like tinder, and The only laws that will be of any avail will 



companies are directly responsible are not tbe se, together with the brakes, wintergreens be those that will help the state, and private 



many. Few people respect the forests as they and other vegetation that naturally springs up owners do that work. 



should. Some abuse the railroads for set ing in all burned districts , nnd a fire i as quickly Some sav that the lumberm en never have 



hres and then throw lighted cigars and cigar- and as sure|y as the onglnal s l as h,ng. Many 3t d their ' share of the taxes . j will venture 



ettes from car windows in dry seasons. There remedies considered impractical might be of to i av that no other business ever received 



is altogether too much carelessness. Fire is a value jf the ave rage labor that can be found , return f or taxes naid than the lumbermen 



terrible scourge. It is not to be played with. for the work ccu]d be re)ied upon to use j udg - ^ the ncrth centra i states . Thev have had 



The experience and training of average nient and care. That class of labor seems to |; u ] e or no po lice protection; hunters and 



lumbermen should enable them to be the best have almost disappeared from the earth. The fishermen r oam their lands at will and set 



judges of what is practical legislation for the C cst cf burning the slashings must not be lost fi jl es wnen and where they please. They have 



protection of forests from tire, while the peo- sight of because any added expense will prove j lad f ew roadSi and no public improvements 



pie in general are not well informed on these ruinous to a large number of lumber manufac- worth mentioning, 



matter- trrers at this time. 



Few outside the lumbermen and forests un- The price cf lumber at the mills is very low There should be no rigid 



derstand the difficultv of enacting laws that and admits of no profit to the producer. Hem- that certain things must be done regardless 



really will help the situation. Manv laws that lock lumber at the saw mill is now worth f _ loca ">' The conditions often are ^erv 



have been passed in the var.cn> states in re- j ust about what it was ten vears ago. and ft7?V\f& 'n nn/countv mav Drove oth 



cent vears have made matters worse instead the re was very little profit in it then. Our ^ "?' * te t a . slb!e '" On * !?"",*/" 



of better. Some laws actually have set a mixed timber forests of Wisconsin and Mich- "wise in the next It ould seem as though 



premium on setting fires by providing such i gan contain 50 to 80 per cent hemlock. The a ' e commissions, as tai 5 ltho ritv 



high daily wages for fire fighting that fires present stumpage cost is three times what it P Ymhin 



were set to get the money. New York was va> ,hen. and the manufacturing costs have could best handle this matter 



compelled to change her laws to stop that increased considerably. be done that will be such^bunlen upon^the 



practice. Several other states will soon fol- \vi t h.mt question, the only cheap way to ^ meeting the ruinous competition of the 



low her lead. hurn s l as hings. in general, is to set fire to manu f acturer s of yellow pine in the South. 



The so-called selt-dumping-ashpan law, l ar ge areas and allow the fire to run before y o bene fi t wou ld accrue to the citizens of 

 passed by our National Congress a few years t h e wind. Anyone making a practice of burn- j hese j^ states ; n that way. On the other 

 ago, has proved to be a source of many rail- j ng that way hardly will be regarded as a good han d no thing must be done to stop the de- 

 road fires. neighbor. If slashings are to be burned, they ve j oprnent ' o 'f the farms that follow in the 



The Minnesota law passed at the last ses- must be burned with great care. In heavy. wake o { tne logger. How important this is 



sion of the legislature that provided for the mixed timber the cost will then be pron - maj . be geen j n the fact that upper Michigan 



burning of the slashings left by the lumber- live. But we all will admit that something b uys 95 per cent of what she eats. This great 



men has proved to be impractical, in fact, very must be done and at once. t place. j mportat j on ; s due to the lack of developed 



dangerous. An attempt to burn slashings by the timber owners must help themselves, after f arms not bec ause she can not grow more 



a large rperator during the last season re- that they may expect some help from others. Q{ ^ {ood supp n es . 



suited in the burning of 200.000.000 feet of By concerted action the lumbermen can f-, pr that the 



white pine show the country that they are taking an in- Experience has taught the forester t 



telligent interest in the protection of our for- best way to prevent hres from spreading i 

 Unless they combine their efforts to pre- bv clearing out paths or fire lines. It is D 



IlOlUCttlllwc^lUJllloivveiiijr. . - t . 



Vi h r iin 1a\\- legislation in the next few years. There must a if\v luus v\iuc u^iwn **- - .....-.- - 

 Hw "urelv do he a campaign of education to spread the the timber may help to keep fires within small 

 to mike thr truth. The public still needs educating. areas. If that plan was adopted and the 



wind may fan them to a blaze at any time, our remaining torests trom devastation by they are small. 



These ground fires have been known to last fire. The meat of the nut is an active campaign 



from midsummer until snowfall, and even There is no better way to prove that the on the part of every one to prevent hres anr 



through the winter. Some will suggest wait- timber owners mean to do their share in this quick action if they start. In this matter an 



ing until winter to burn cutover land. The matter than by active organizations, the object rurice of prevention is worth a pound of cure 



early part of the winter finds the fuel too wet if which shall be to prevent forest fires as The fuel is always on hand and always will 



and later the snow is too deep, in many parts far as it is possible to do so. The timber be >jo law can prevent its accumulation. 



of the lake states. In mixed timber there are owners of the Pacific Northwest are banded j s necessary. 



many small trees and defective mature trees together in a dozen or more associations Xature takes care o f this accumulation by 



left after logging. In a few localities the im- whose object is the prevention of forest fires. ^ atu re l h ; , h wj] , be 



mature trees may become valuabe timber They are trying to educate the rest of the deca>. adding hum. s t tomorrow in his e f. 



stands if allowed to grow. Nearly all the tirn- people to help them by being more careful " eeded bv ^ the r . er _ increasin(f popu , at i on . 



ber remaining is valuable for wood and is the Their rangers fight the fires that do start, and ' clearing of land from which 



chief source of the settlers income during they have been very successful During the er > jn fe h fa t will be ent i re lv a 



the first few years they occupy their farms. last season when Washington. Oregon. Idaho * h ro j b ^ r ^e homesteader or pioneer farm- 



My own personal experience leads me to be- an d Montana were swept by a pertect hum- P r t ' e , m to V" t h lumberman to solve Cut- 



lieve that this valuable remainder cannot be cane of fire, comparatively little damage was ^. j"^ sl ,j ted f or agr icuUure will not lie 



or 



saved where slashings are burned. done on the timber lands patrolled by them. PX er , la JiT f lltl ?re 



In the hemlock forests the bark must be Many fires started but few of them gained 



peeled in June, July and Auuust. and often a headway enough to cause extensive loss. Let uc make haste s ] ow ly. The only laws 



year's supply of logs is cut then. Long be- rangers of one association put out about 1,200 that can be of i as ting value to us will be those 



fore winter comes those slashings are as dry fires last season. the enforcement of which will not be hindered 



and dangerous as any. Where the hemlock I recently organized the Northern Forest bv politics. Laws massed on the impulse of 



and hardwood timber stands thick upon the Protective Association along the lines of the the moment, urged by those with little 'or no 



ground a great deal of small timber will be western associations. It started out with a practical knowledge of conditions, will be 



killed bv the heat when the land is burned membership representing 2,000,000 acres in poor laws. In the opinion of many we have 



river. Even where great care is exercised the upper peninsula of Michigan, and it is too manv laws of that kind now. I can see 



such will be the result. In a very large num- expected that there will be 4.000.000 acres in no remedy for this unless featherings similar 



ber of cases there is more fuel for fires a the a-sociation within six months. The organ- to this one. at which all interested parties 



-econd year than there was at the first burn- ization is broad enough to take in all of Wis- ronfer. are to become ever a more important 



ing. This is not true of solid pine stands, but cousin and Michigan. part of our commercial and political life. 



