15 



Forest Fire Protection. 



The destructive fires which have raged over the entire Cape 

 country, including the southern part of Plymouth County, have 

 caused very serious damage to forest growth. Indeed, fire has 

 been the most serious enemy of timber propagation in this sec- 

 tion. The geographic location of this part of the State, together 

 with the high winds which prevail at certain periods of the 

 year, are conditions which make each small brush fire a poten- 

 tial holocaust. 



This fire menace has been recognized for a long time by the 

 residents of the Cape counties and by the State Forester's 

 department. A fire tower was constructed in Plymouth by that 

 town in 1905. In 1911 the office of State Fire Warden was 

 established, and since then towers have been erected on high 

 points in the towns of Kingston, Hanson, Hingham and Middle- 

 borough. These towers, with the addition of that in Bourne in 

 Barnstable County, now cover the entire area of Plymouth 

 County, and statistics from the State Fire Warden's reports 

 show that the fire damage in this section has been reduced 

 about 75 per cent, since their erection. 



Forest Industries. 



The shoe manufacturing and cranberry raising industries 

 require very large amounts of wood in the manufacture of 

 boxes, crates and barrels for the shipment of their products. 

 Practically all of the wood used is obtained from the county. 

 In nearly every town may be found mills which saw 100,000 

 board feet or more of pine and oak each "year. Many of these 

 mills turn out the finished product, boxes, crates, or barrels, 

 as the case may be, but a considerable number simply supply 

 the boards, while others deliver their product in the form of 

 shooks. The logs in almost all cases are cut short and bought 

 locally by the cord, and are sawn into f-inch boards, which is 

 the standard dimension for box boards. 



In addition to the manufacture of boxes, etc., several of these 

 sawmills do custom work, but there is nowhere near so much of 

 this done now as in former years. 



In one important respect the sawmills of Plymouth County 

 differ from those located in other parts of the State. They are 



