412 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



trees being shipped are white pine, and the 

 fact that the State has been able to furnish 

 so many for its own reserves and to private 

 parties who agree to take care of them, li- 

 lustrates the wisdom of the establishment 

 of the nurseries several years ago. 



The State has three nurseries, one in 

 Bedford, one in Huntingdon and one in 

 Tioga, with Mont Alto helping along. They 

 are all on State reserves and have proved 

 of great importance in the State's work in 

 districts where replanting was necessary to 

 conserve the water supply. Last year close 

 to 2,000,000 seedlings were shipped. 



Michigan 



The State Game, Fish and Forestry De- 

 partment has demonstrated that between 75 

 and 80 per cent, of the disastrous forest fires 

 in Michigan in recent years are traceable to 

 the carelessness of homesteaders and camp- 

 ers, according to John A. Higgins, the de- 

 partment's inspector of railroad locomotives 

 and rights-of-way. A small percentage of 

 the fires have been caused by sparks from 

 locomotives and it is the duty of Mr. Hig- 

 gins to see that railroads equip their en- 

 gines with devices to prevent these fires. 



Mr. Higgins is on a tour of inspection 

 of the raliroads of Michigan. He examines 

 the equipment, the conditions along the 

 rights-of-way that might be changed as a 

 measure of fire prevention and advises rail- 

 roads how to prevent fires. 



Massachusetts 



Campaigns for the prevention of waste are 

 young as yet in this country, and yet they 

 occasionally make their presence known. 

 Almost every year Massachusetts has been 

 the scene of destructive forest fires. One of 

 the commonest reasons of the great waste 

 through this cause has been that the fires 

 gained great headway before they were dis- 

 covered. To guard against this there has 

 been established a chain of signal towers, 

 reaching all the way from the coast to the 

 New York State line. In these men will be 

 stationed at all hours of the day and night, 

 and it is felt that no fire can gain much of 

 a start before it will be discovered. 



New Hampshire 

 The danger from forest fires is called to 



the attention of the people of the State in a 

 circular issued from the office of State For- 

 ester E. C. Hirst, which follows : 



It is extremely dangerous to leave slash 

 and cut bushes along the railroad lines. 

 Every year the railroads clear their right 

 of way of inflammable material, but to in- 

 sure safety a wider strip should be cleaned. 

 If at this time land owners would co-operate 

 with the railroad companies in clearing 

 brush where cuttings have been made along 

 the tracks, a great many fires would be pre- 

 vented. 



In nearly every town there are some heavy 

 slashings along the most frequented roads 

 awaiting the lighted match or cigar from a 

 passing vehicle. Town selectmen and tim- 

 berland owners would do well to clear the 

 brush for a few feet along the roads where 

 timber cutting has left an inflammable slash. 



A little forethought and attention to such 

 matters would lessen the fire danger mate- 

 rially and reduce the expense which the 

 towns and the State bear in fighting forest 

 fires. 



Oregon 



Giving a warning to all timber owners as 

 to the burning of slashings, State Forester 

 Elliott has issued the first circular of the 

 season as to fire protective work by the 

 State Board of Forestry. In the circular he 

 calls attention to the necessity of burning 

 slashings at favorable times as being a ques- 

 tion of the greatest importance. 



California 



The forest rangers under R. H. Charlton, 

 supervisor of the Angeles forest reserve, in 

 conjunction with help to be furnished by 

 J. M. Beard, who will this year have charge 

 of the Sturtevant Camp in the Big Santa 

 Anita canyon, will shortly begin construction 

 of what forest rangers say will be the most 

 picturesque trail for travelers in the Sierra 

 Madres. 



The trail will branch off the old Sturte- 

 vant trail at the Hermit's and will then fol- 

 low the bottom of the canyon alongside Big 

 Santa Anita Creek up to Sturtevant's. It 

 will lessen the distance between Sierra Ma- 

 dra and Sturtevant's camp by three miles 

 and will be a much easier grade the whole 

 way, cutting out entirely the rattlesnake trail 

 beyond Hoegee's camp. 



