17 



During fire season there should be one man in this tower at all times. 

 He should be provided with a good pair of field glasses, a complete 

 map of the reserve, showing the roads and streams, and should also 

 have telephone connection with the officer in charge of the reserve, or 

 the nearest ranger. There should be placed on the reserve at different 

 points, small tool houses or chests, fitted with a lock and keys, and 

 each man empoyed on the reserve should have a key. These chests 

 should contain shovels, rakes, picks, and one or two torches for use 

 in back-firing. One of these outfits would not cost over ten dollars. 

 They should be placed along roads, so as to be easily accessible in case 

 of necessity. 



With a private individual, forest protection is a question of profit 

 and loss; but with the State, whose purpose in obtaining this land 

 is to perpetuate the forest supplies and preserve the water supply of 

 the State, it is its duty to protect, even if it does not pay. By afford- 

 ing protection, the land will bring the results for which it was bought. 

 It pays to protect forested land in Germany, and there is no reason 

 why it will not pay to do so in this country. Protection from fire 

 would be greatly benefitted by having the law of June 12, 1907, P. L. 

 527, apply to all timber lands. 



In case of attacks by insects, one way in which they may be stopped 

 is by introducing into the forest insectivorous birds. Trap trees may 

 also be resorted to. It is seldom that insects will attack healthy trees. 

 Therefore, having a healthy stand of trees, is, in most cases, a protec- 

 tion against insects. Against atmospheric influences, a change of 

 species will in some cases stop wind-falls. The attention of campers 

 should be called to the loss that results from forest fires, often caused 

 by carelessness. It is necessary to educate the people so that they 

 will be more careful with the use of fire in the forest. The slashing of 

 cut-over lands should be burned at a season of the year when there is 

 no danger from fire being communicated to surrounding forests. In 

 the planting of old fields, it would be well to leave an open strip around 

 the planting area, to be kept free of all inflammable material as a 

 protection to the young seedlings from fire. Seedling transplants 

 should be carefully watched for any attack by insects. From Nov- 

 ember, 1903, until March, 1908, or a period of 52 months,, the cost of 

 protecting the Bedford county reserve, consisting of about 9,000 acres, 

 outside of the regular ranger's salary, was f 374.48, $7.20 per month, 

 or $0.0096 per acre per year. This includes the opening of fire lanes, 

 the repair of a road a distance of three miles, and the employing of 

 an assistant ranger during several of the fire seasons, and a surveyor 

 for a few days. 



