FOREST CONDITIONS. 367 



Indeed it is often used in the most absurd, 

 extravagant, and unintelligent manner. 



In the Eastern forest, especially the mountain 

 forest, wholesale denudation is comparatively rare, 

 since the lumberman usually culls merely; repro- 

 duction at least of a shrubby vegetation is most 

 rapid, and there would be little danger of losing the 

 protective cover through lumbering operations if 

 the fires were kept out. 



Even if a fire goes through the slash, it is not 

 many years before a new vegetation has established 

 itself, and only repeated fires can produce a real 

 denudation. 



The effects are, of course, variable according to 

 a variety of circumstances and conditions, the time 

 of occurrence of the fires, the amount of debris to 

 feed the flames, the character of the soil and its 

 cover, etc. 



While the mountain forests on the Atlantic side 

 show only here and there really serious detriment 

 to soil and soil cover due to lumbering operations 

 and fires, injudicious clearing for farm use and 

 improper management of farm lands are much 

 more frequently the causes of undue erosion and 

 soil washes. 



Signs of the deleterious influences of undue 

 deforestation are visible in all parts of the Eastern 

 United States, and a chapter could readily be filled 

 with detailed descriptions of regions which have 

 especially suffered. 



