294 THE PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING WOODLANDS 



results would be obtained if there were, during the dry 

 season, one guard for each 15,000 or 20,000 acres. This 

 will follow naturally as the increased receipts from the 

 Forests justify a more intensive management. 



In flat regions more men are required for patrol than 

 in a rugged country, where large areas may be overlooked 

 from prominent elevations. It has been the general view 

 that in flat regions like the Lake States and the plateau 

 portions of Maine and the Adirondacks there should be 

 at least one guard for each 10,000 acres. 



The required force of guards is governed by the risk 

 of fire and the value of the property to be protected. In 

 the case of a forest of very great value there is necessarily 

 a correspondingly greater justification for expenditure in 

 fire protection, just as one takes out fire insurance in pro- 

 portion to the value of his property. As the value of 

 our forests increases, there will be a correspondingly 

 greater amount of money spent on protection. This 

 principle is illustrated in Europe, where the forests are 

 very valuable and where frequently there is one forest 

 guard for each 1,000 acres. (Prussia, one for 1,700 

 acres; Baden, one for 750 acres.) 



PATROL ALONG RAILROADS. Railroads in many cases 

 are the most prolific source of fires. In some sections 

 over 50 per cent, of the fires are from the sparks from 

 locomotives. While most of these fires could be pre- 

 vented if the railroads used proper appliances on the 

 locomotives for arresting the sparks, nevertheless, in 

 many cases, it is probably impossible to prevent sparks 



