i8o IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



green head to the blackened earth, "dying with 

 its boots on," as one might say. 



The fire sweeps on, now over one of the low 

 rocky ridges, and is rushing through the lovely 

 silver palms. Their leaves are crackling like the 

 roll of drums but their stems withstand the on- 

 slaught. Although sadly disfigured they really 

 come through the ordeal as safely as did Shadrach 

 and his friends from the fiery furnace of old. 



The tall dead trees are ablaze the instant the 

 flame touches them, and if the weather is dry they 

 may continue to burn for weeks, in which case they 

 stand as pillars of fire by night and of cloud by 

 day. These fires destroy nearly all the vegetable 

 humus on the forest floor and about all that is 

 left of it is some ash. The soil is thus kept very 

 poor and thin and to some extent this prevents the 

 hammock vegetation from getting a foothold. 

 Roland Harper and E. F. Andrews have shown 

 that were it not for the forest fires the long-leaved 

 pine (Pinus palustris) would be driven out by 

 other growths, and I am sure this is also true of 

 our Caribbean pine. 



Some of the small oaks which inhabit the pine 

 forest would become arboreal but for the fact that 



