Forest Fires axd their Prevextiox. 17 



TABLE 5.— comparative STATEMENT OF AVERAGES BY REGIONS FOR 

 1910 AND 1909. 



NUMBER OF FIRES. 



Of the 800 blanks sent out, only 320, or 41 per cent, were filled out 

 and returned. Though these covered only one-third of the townships 

 of the State, it is probable that they include the greater part of the 

 more important fires, though many other fires have occurred in town- 

 ships not reported on. This has been ascertained from clippings taken 

 from the local press of the State, which mention additional fires in at 

 least ten counties. 



Xo doubt many fires also took place in townships making reports 

 which the correspondents, owing to their location in a different part 

 of the township, had not heard of. 



From tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 it will be seen that 726 fires were reported, 

 or an average of a little over two fires to the township reporting. This 

 is only slightly in excess of the total number of fires reported for 1909. 

 While there were barely half the number of fires reported from the 

 mountain region, there were nearly three times as many in the Pied- 

 mont region as were reported for 1909. This is probably due in large 

 part to the two droughts, which were so severe over the eastern part of 

 the State, and which were much less felt in the mountains. The com- 

 paratively small niunber of replies receiv.ed from the western part of 

 the State might also partly account for it. 



AREA BURNT OVER. 



About 580,000 acres of land were reported burnt over during 1910. 

 This is 43 per cent in excess of the amount burnt over last year. The 

 comparative freedom of the mountain counties from fires shows itself 

 in the 80,000 acres burnt over, which is less than half that was burnt 

 over in that region in 1909. 

 ' 2 



