672 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



managed stands, although a small beginning has been made in the 

 latter field through the establishment of permanent sample plots. 

 Only a beginning has been made in the preparation of growth tables 

 for uneven-aged stands. 



Undoubtedly a good many years ' work is ahead even within the 

 fields touched upon in the preceding paragraph. The more intensive 

 fundamental work on both volume and yields lies almost entirely 

 ahead. Only a little has been done on the fundamental laws governing 

 form or even on the first steps of breaking the problem down into its 

 factors. Only preliminary information is available on the influence 

 of such factors as wind, temperatures, soil mixtures, density of stands, 

 cutting, etc., on form. The same general situation holds regarding the 

 more complex yield problem. Even the conception of normal stands 

 which has been the basis for much of our work to date on normal yield 

 tables, is vague and poorly defined. Quality of the product, as con- 

 trasted with quantity, has as yet received practically no consideration 

 in either volume or yield work. 



FOREST-FIRE PROTECTION 



Forest-fire research apparently originated in the United States, 

 undoubtedly as the direct result of a forest-fire situation which is 

 more serious than in almost any other country. Research of this 

 character is gradually being taken up in other countries, and may now 

 be under way in half a dozen. The problem is complex, and accord- 

 ingly it is gratifying that progress has been made in breaking it down 

 into parts that can be studied effectively. 



f Substantial progress has been made in the development of a tech- 

 nique for statistical studies of past fires and the efficiency of protective 

 organizations. These and other studies are giving invaluable leads 

 for improvement in fire control by pointing the way to better organ- 

 ization for the prevention of forest fires, for prompter detection, for 

 extinguishing fires while small, and for the organization necessary 

 to combat large fires. These studies are also paving the way to 

 greatly improved hour-control or speed-of-attack standards, which 

 is one of the essentials in the development of fire protection. 



Studies of fire damage have proved invaluable as a means for 

 combating the light-burning theory in several parts of the country 

 where it has been a serious menace to forest management. Rela- 

 tively little progress has been made, however, in an exact determina- 

 tion of what damage is caused by fire in all forest types and forest 

 regions, which is one of the primary requisites for an intelligent 

 distribution of protective funds and protective organizations. 



With existing organizations many fires become large, and with the 

 greatest possible gains in efficiency this may be expected to continue 

 with a certain proportion of fires for years to come. Some effort 

 has therefore been devoted to studies of the climatic and other con- 

 ditions which influence fire behavior and of going fires, and corre- 

 sponding progress has been made. A beginning has been made on 

 forest fire meteorology with particular reference to electrical storms 

 and to relative humidity. Progress has been made in a much more 

 exact determination of the factors which may indicate bad or serious 

 conditions. All of the work on fire behavior and on the factors 

 affecting it looks forward as one important objective to the improve- 



