FOREST FIRES 137 



The hardwood forests of Connecticut and Massachusetts are 

 largely composed of oak, which has a tendency to retain its foliage 

 over winter. The result is that in the dry season, which usually 

 comes in April and May, these leaves form a ready tinder 

 for the innumerable little fires of the region. These fires con- 

 fined to the leaves and underbrush are called " surf ace fires." 

 The birch and maple of Vermont and New Hampshire shed their 

 leaves in the fall; they are matted down and rotted by the winter 



Fig. 48. A group of chestnuts killed outright by surface fires. 



snows, which are much heavier than in southern New England, 

 and the result is that these states, with few unbroken areas of 

 conifers, are more free from forest fires than any other part of 

 New England. 



These surface fires seldom kill the trees of a forest outright, but 

 wound them so severely that they become infested with fungous 

 diseases, make little growth, and eventually die. The severity 

 of the wounds inflicted depends very largely upon the strength 

 of the wind at the time of the fire, the amount of inflammable 

 material on the ground, and the kind and size of trees in the forest. 

 With a strong wind the flames often lap around the trunk of a 



