528 



AMERICAN 1-ORESTRY 



may deceive the experienced woodsman into believing 

 that the fire is burning in a locality other than its exact 

 location. The ground patrol system, when it follows 

 only stream courses and beaten portages, is essentially 

 weak, for it is 

 impossible t o 

 detect a small 

 fire until very 

 close to it, an<l 

 difficult to defi- 

 nitely locate a 

 large fire un- 

 der certain 

 wind condi- 

 tions. 



When the 

 supervisor of 

 a fire-fighting 

 force uses an 

 airplane in 

 scouting burn- 

 ing areas, he 

 obtains definite 

 information as 

 to recent de- 

 velopments and 

 seriousness of 

 the fire. Fur- 

 thennore, he is 

 able to grasp 

 the demands of 

 the situation 

 and strategi- 

 cally fight the 



THE TELL-TALE SMOKE COLUMN 



This column of smoke was seen by the men in the airplane while yet twenty miles away from 

 it. The character of the forest, which is a mixed hardwood-coniferous stand, is easily dis- 

 cerned. Adequate fire protection is a paramount need and must precede any system of for- 

 est management. 



to be put on such a basis are protected from fire. Un- 

 derlying the whole problem of fire protection is the 

 necessity of a public sentiment supporting the system. 

 The present false idea of many people employed by 



the forest in- 

 d u s t r i e s as 

 well as those 

 using the for- 

 est for sport- 

 ing purposes, 

 regarding fires, 

 is deplorable. 

 Until the for- 

 est is esteemed 

 by all as a 

 source of indi- 

 vidual prosper- 

 ity and happi- 

 ness, no system 

 of protection, 

 however well 

 developed, will 

 be entirely suc- 

 :essful. P r e - 

 vention of for- 

 est fires is es- 

 sential. 



The role of 

 the airplane as 

 a fire-fighting 

 a u X i 1 i ary is 

 p e r m a n e nt- 

 ly established, 

 for it is the 



fire by taking full advantage of the topographic condi- 

 tions which will assist in controlling the fire. 



All persons connected with the timber industry fully 

 realize the need of stopping our present annual devasta- 

 tion of forest resources by fire. It is useless for for- 

 esters to make plans for sustained yield until the stands 



means of detecting fires and reconnoitering burning areas. 

 The value of its services in recent fires is inestimable, 

 for in addition to serving as a scout, it transported the 

 men, equipment and food demanded by the emergency of 

 the situation. The airplane as the eyes of the fire-fighter 

 and watch-dog of our forest resources is unbeatable. 



'T'HE most widely distributed commercial tree on the 

 ' Tongass National Forest, southeastern Alaska, is 

 western hemlock. It is a rapidly growing tree and is 

 suitable for either mechanical or chemical wood pulp, 

 either alone or in mixture with other species. It is 

 conservatively estimated by the Forest Service that it 

 forms 60 per cent of the merchantable stand. This 

 species is being extensively used for paper pulp at a 

 number of plants in British Columbia. 



'T'HE forest problem is in many ways the most vital 

 internal problem before the American people today. 

 Theodore Roosevelt. 



T T is claimed to have been discovered that out 

 * of 6,600 species of flowers cultivated in Europe 

 only 420 possess an agreeable i>erfume. Flowers with 

 white or cream-colored petals are frequently more odor- 

 iferous than others. Next in order come the yellow 

 flowers, then the red, after them the blue and finally 

 the violet, of which only thirteen out of 308 give oft' 

 a pleasing perfume. In the whole list 3,880 varieties 

 are oft'ensive in odor and 2,300 have no perceptible 

 smell, either pleasant or unpleasant. 



/^NE ton of newsprint requires 1,600 pounds of ground 

 ^-^ wood pulp and 540 pounds of sulphite, and 7,500 

 acres of pulpwood are required to furnish the paper for 

 all the Sunday papers in the United States. 



T^HE following is an excerpt from an article appearing 

 in the May Cosmopolitan by Irvin Cobb entitled "The 

 Bear That Hunted Me." 



"Or deeper still in the woods you may meet the ranger 

 himself, a gallant figure in his greenish drab uniform. 

 Usually he is young; always he is competent; nearly 

 always he is deeply in love with the work he is doing." 



