HOW THE FORESTER WORKS 89 



cut into small pieces so that they will lie close to the ground, 

 where they may rot and become part of the soil again. 



Different species and different climates require different for- 

 estry methods. In certain regions, as in the Douglas fir forests 

 of the Northwest, where almost every tree is cut during lumber- 

 ing, the area is set on fire and burned over as soon as the logs 

 are removed. This fire destroys the heavy underbrush and al- 

 lows sunlight to fall on the millions of fir seeds that have been 

 accumulating for years in the top soil. Under the direct sun- 

 light they spring up and fill the area with a new thick Douglas 

 fir forest. Without this fire the seeds might never have 

 sprouted, or at best the seedlings would face a long and 

 perhaps losing struggle with the underbrush. But from now on 

 it is vitally important to protect this area from fire, for should 

 flames again sweep through and destroy the young trees there 

 would be no more living seeds stored in the soil, and planting 

 would be the only means of securing future trees. 



In forests that have been cut over without proper disposal 

 of the limbs and tops, the foresters' problems are many. Such 

 places are usually firetraps of the most imflammable materials 

 since pine needles, leaves and branches have been dried out by 

 wind and sun until they are like tinder. Here and there young 

 trees are already springing up, but some of them are being 

 choked back by underbrush and by weed trees. In such cases 

 whenever it is economically justifiable the forester cuts away 

 these competing inferior species to release the more valuable 

 ones to the sunlight. 



On the steeper hillsides the forester often will not allow trees 

 to be cut at all, since the removal of even a few may so loosen 

 the forest soil that heavy rains will begin washing the earth 



