LOBLOLLY OR NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 157 



sought should be loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, yellow poplar, and south- 

 ern red oak. In order to obtain restocking, it is necessary to bring the 

 mineral soil to the surface, to cut heavily, and afford plenty of light. 



PROTECTION FROM FIRES. 



The greatest destruction of young timber in the loblolly pineries is 

 caused by forest fires. The tendency of the pine is to seek open places 

 where it secures full sunlight; these places are generally grassy, 'and if 

 a ground fire occurs before the pine is large enough to withstand it the 

 young growth is injured or destroyed. The frequent fires on the heavy 

 sod on the longleaf pine flat land and the pocoson pine savannas are 

 responsible to a large extent for the open stands on such lands. (Plates 

 V, A; V, B; VI, A; XX and XXII.) The same is true of the grassy, 

 peaty lands, and the logged-over swamp lands in which grass and short- 

 lived shrubs have secured a foothold and which dry out sufficiently to 

 burn. 



The difficulties of checking a forest fire in this region during a dry 

 season, when it is under headway before a wind, are evident. The avail- 

 able force for fighting fire is limited; the areas are large and often 

 difficult of access on account of undergrowth in the swamps. The most 

 satisfactory way of reducing loss from forest fire is to prevent the fires 

 from starting or from getting under headway. 



While some fires undoubtedly originate from lightning, which can not 

 be prevented, the greater number start from one or another of the fol- 

 lowing sources : 



(1) Locomotives, especially logging locomotives. 



(2) Logging crews or from logging camps. 



(3) Farm laborers, especially in the spring when new ground is 

 being cleared, brush burned, or fence lines cleaned. 



(4) Burning dead grass on grazing land, from which the fire spreads 

 to woodjand, or burning the woodland for pasturage. 



(5) Hunters and fishermen. 



(6) Carelessness on the part of other persons. 



The fires from all these causes can be prevented or reduced in number 

 through using greater care in handling fire in the forest, posting notices, 

 and general education of the people to the losses from fires. 



The law of North Carolina in regard to setting fire to woodland, 

 brush land or grass land, reads as follows : 



Section 8 of Chapter 2'j3. Public Laws of 1015. If any person shall inten- 

 tionally set fire to any grass land, brush land, or woodland, except it be his 

 own property, or in that case without first giving notice to all persons own- 

 ing or in charge of lands adjoining the land intended to be fired, and also 

 taking care to watch such fire while burning and taking effectual care to 

 extinguish such fire before it shall reach any lands near to or adjoining 

 the lands so fired, he shall for every such offense be guilty of a misdemeanor 

 and shall be fined not less than ten dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, or 

 imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. This shall not prevent action for 

 damages sustained by the owner of any property from such fires. 



