FOREST FIRES 143 



ness in burning brush. Many people seem to be entirely lacking 

 in common sense in selecting a time and place for burning brush 

 or rubbish. Such fires should never be started when there is 

 a strong wind or in dry weather, wind or no wind. 



In manufacturing communities mill hands in the woods on 

 holidays and Sundays are responsible for starting numerous fires. 



Besides these fires, due to various forms of carelessness, there 

 is a class far more common than the uninitiated would sup- 

 pose, namely, incendiary fires. In almost every sparsely-settled 

 region of New England there are certain communities of run-out 

 stock where a few characters, often of doubtful parentage, some- 

 times half-witted and less frequently vicious, hold the surround- 

 ing farmers in continual terror. They start forest fires either 

 from a wild delight in seeing them burn or for spite, and, if inter- 

 fered with, will wreak vengeance by next burning a barn or 

 poisoning a horse. The better element in the community is 

 usually too much afraid to furnish evidence that might lead to 

 conviction. Not until this class is weeded out of our hill towns 

 and a thrifty, self-respecting population is substituted, will the 

 rural problem of New England be on a fair way to settlement. 

 Here is the common field for forester and missionary; .for re- 

 munerative work, which in many of these regions can be fur- 

 nished only by the forester, is a necessary accompaniment of 

 better teaching. 



In the West many forest fires are started by lightning, and 

 occasional fires in New England arise from this cause. It is 

 maintained that fires are sometimes started by the sun's rays 

 reflected from broken bottles and unquestionably they have 

 been set by fire balloons and other fireworks. 



FIRE PREVENTION. 



Forest fires spread very rapidly if there is any wind, with an 

 ever-increasing front, so that each hour wasted in attacking 

 them increases many times the difficulty and expense of extin- 

 guishing. The most efficient method of preventing damage by 

 forest fire is, therefore, to provide some means of attacking 



