230 BURNING OF PASTURE LANDS 



The monetary loss due to the destruction of the original vege- 

 tation is no greater, in all probability, than the loss of the soil's 

 fertility. This fact becomes evident when the low produc- 

 tive capacity of the soil after it is burned and the period re- 

 quired for the reestablishment of fertility are fully taken into 

 account. 



Grazing and Fire Control. — Careful observations and study 

 for many years have convinced the writer that fires ordinarily are 



Fig. 74. — judicious GRAZING IS HELPFUL IN FIRE CONTROL. 



Not only is proper grazing an important factor in the control of fires, but it greatly increases the 



profits from the land. 



fully as destructive to the range as overgrazing. This is partic- 

 ularly true of wooded pastures and forested ranges, where the 

 monetary loss from fires is especially heavy. Proper grazing, 

 however, quite aside from the profits it may directly yield, 

 greatly reduces the liability to fires and the danger therefrom 

 (Figs. 74 and 75). Burning, on the one hand, destroys the 

 forage and makes it unavailable for livestock; grazing, on the 

 other hand, utilizes the forage and prevents it from becoming 

 possible fuel for fires. This latter fact is seldom fully appreciated, 

 especially on the large and valuable timber holdings, in preparing 

 plans for protecting the cover against fires. The beneficial 



