220 BURNING OF PASTURE LANDS 



meadow. " This fire isn't goin' to eat up my good old hay land 

 again. For years, as a young farmer, I looked forward with 

 much pleasure to the burnin' job, and for as many years I paid 

 the price for this pastime, and a handsome price it was too. 

 While I was pasturin' the land I didn't realize how every year 

 I was bein' robbed of a good forage crop. It wasn't until I got 

 to puttin' the grass into the haystack and keepin' track of the 

 loads that it dawned upon me that I had been ' pulUn' the 

 wool over my own eyes.' Since I quit burnin' off what little 

 second growth there happened to be the yields have been much 

 larger, especially in dry years." 



Some of the most persistent beHefs favoring burning are (i) 

 that the character of the herbage and browse is generally much 

 improved by annual firing; (2) that burning brings about early 

 spring growth, and that the forage produced is more palatable 

 than where the lands are not fired; (3) that the productivity of 

 the soil is greatly increased through the Hberation of the lime, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash contained in the ash; and (4) that, 

 because of the alleged increased density in the plant cover after 

 a burn, the watershed value of a drainage area is greatly enhanced 

 for irrigation purposes and for navigation. These popular beliefs 

 are in general without foundation. 



In the absence of the old growth the first appearance of green 

 vegetation is clearly discernible, and one may readily get the 

 impression that the growth after a fire is not only exceptionally 

 early but that a bumper yield is being produced. This is by 

 no means substantiated by facts. 



Some of the other arguments in favor of burning, in the absence 

 of thorough-going investigations, are difficult to disprove. In- 

 deed, in certain restricted localities in the South, periodic burning 

 under some conditions may possibly be justified. However, 

 many a stockman-farmer, like the Nebraskan, has observed that 

 the argument in favor of burning takes into account only the 

 immediate use of the pasture. To consider merely the benefits 

 that may doubtfully be enjoyed — say for one or two seasons — 

 obviously is poor economics. Among other things one must 

 keep in mind the effect which fires inevitably have on the pro- 



