The Dominion Forest Reserves. 35 



the people ; then why should good grass be allowed to go to 

 waste if it can be utilized? The grazing may be desirable also 

 as a protection to the woods. In some places the ground is 

 covered with a dense growth of long grass and peavine. This, 

 when dry, offers much fuel for fire; and when the fire once gets 

 into it, it is almost impossible to check the flames. Cattle on 

 the prairie have much the same habit as the buffalo. In going 

 to water they follow one another and make paths which they 

 follow day after day. These paths are fire lines where the fire 

 may be checked, small to be sure, but there are many of them, 

 and they give lines from which to back-fire. 



Perhaps it will be objected that grazing prohibits the repro- 

 duction of timber. It seems to me, however, that the inter- 

 ference with reproduction from this cause is much overestimated. 

 I;i^'know in the West many fields grazed constantly that have 

 come into timber. There is danger from overgrazing, but from 

 judicious grazing there is much less danger than from long grass 

 and peavine. 



Protection Against Fire. 



The problem of protecting the forest reserves against fire 

 is the most difficult one we have. The fire problem is difficult 

 even in the eastern provinces; but the conditions for fighting 

 fire here are very favorable as compared with those prevailing 

 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and eastern British 

 Columbia. Compare, for instance, the number of rainy days 

 for the summer months at Calgary, Alberta; Qu'Appelle, Saskat- 

 chewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Toronto, Ontario. In our 

 comparison, however, we must not only consider the nimiber 

 of rainy days but also the quantity of rain falling on those days ; 

 because, although a day may be considered rainy, there may not 

 be precipitation enough to count much towards putting out a 

 forest fire. The following table is a comparison for the four 

 places mentioned, showing the average number of rainy days 

 in each of the summer months, and the average quantity of 

 rain falling in those months. It is compiled from statistics 

 furnished by the Meteorological Servnce published in a volume 

 entitled "Rain and Snow-Fail of Canada." 



