WOODLOT FORESTRY 



133 



EFFECTS OF LIGHT GROUND FIRE 



These are generally injured so that 

 their value is greatly decreased. 



Last comes the fire severe enough to 

 wipe out all the stand. 



It is in one of four ways that fires do 

 most of their damage in woodlot: 



(1.) By burning up the litter and 

 plant food, making the soil poorer. 



(2.) By checking growth, and re- 

 ducing vitality. 



(3.) By injuring tree, so that either 

 loss in quality of wood is effected; or 

 wounds produced through which rot or 

 insects can enter the tree. 



(4.) By destroying new young 

 growth, and generally of the best kinds. 

 Thus, all evergreens seedlings may be 

 wiped out, while the hardwoods, through 

 their ability to produce sprouts, may 

 survive; and the poorer species, as 

 birch, increase at the expense of the 

 better. 



The principal causes of fire are rail- 

 roads, brush burning, and carelessness. 

 The question of protection from fire is 

 discussed under Management. In 

 general, however, different species differ 

 considerably in their ability to with- 

 stand fire, and allowance for this should 

 be made in the selection of species. 



In woodlots it is the common prac- 



tice to turn cattle or hogs into the wood- 

 lot to pasture. It is generally believed 

 that this does no harm to the woodlot. 



As a matter of fact, only in fairly 

 mature woods does grazing do no dam- 

 age; and in itself, the fact that there 

 is any pasture there means that the 

 woods are not in as good shape as they 

 should be. If the woods were as dense 

 as the best conditions demand, there 

 would not be enough light on the 

 ground to support a growth of grass, 

 and the amount of pasture would not be 

 sufficient to turn the cattle into the 

 woods. Besides this, cattle browse off 

 young trees and trample down others, 

 and hogs root up many trees, while 

 sheep are especially destructive to very 

 young growth. 



Only in special cases should the 

 woods be pastured, such as turning in 

 hogs to root up the ground just before 

 the seed falls in a good seed year, thus 

 making the seed bed conditions better. 



As a general thing, a piece of land 

 should be used exclusively either for 

 woods or for pasture. Well managed 

 for either use, the return will probably 

 be greater than the combined use for 

 both woods and pasture. 



Each year the damage by forest 



