644- PROTECTION AGAINST FOREST FIRES. 



the wood caused by a road, river, fields, etc., or by purposely 

 counter-firing or felling trees across its path. 



If a forest is liable to be burned, it is better to subdivide it 

 into small areas by fairly numerous rides and roads. 



//. Season. 



Most fires in Central Europe occur in dry springs from 

 March to May when east winds prevail and the dry grass, 

 leaves, and weeds under the trees and the presence of numerous 

 workmen in the woods increase the danger. 



The 509 fires in the Bavarian State forests (p. 640), during 

 the years 1877 — 83, which extended over 1,160 acres, occurred 

 in the following months: January, 4 ; February, 4; March, 

 118; April, 114; May, 140; June, 51; July, 43 ; August, 20; 

 September, 12 ; October, 2 ; November, ; December, 1. 

 Thus 73 per cent, of the fires occurred in March, April and 

 May, and only 27 per cent, in the remaining months. Similar 

 results follow from statistics in Hesse. 



Forest-fires also occur in hot and windy summers, as in the 

 years 1892 and 1893. Winter fires may occur on southerly 

 aspects with dry grass. Two hundred and fifty acres of forest 

 was thus burned at Oberammergau on the 14th January, 1898, 

 In the case of some fires, it has been remarked that they 

 generally fall off in violence during the night, but recover 

 force again after sunrise, this being due to the daily variation 

 in the strength of the wind, and sometimes to the nightly dew, 

 which may extinguish a fire. 



In tropical and semi-tropical countries forest-fires occur 

 during the dry or hot seasons, and are very rare during the 

 more or less prolonged summer monsoon. Thus in the North- 

 West Himalayan coniferous forests, there may be fires in 

 November and December, until snow has fallen, and then 

 again from April till the monsoon breaks early in July, after 

 the melting of the snow. 



In the extensive Sal forests at the foot of the Himalaya 

 mountains, extending from the Jumna river to the Borelli 

 river in Assam, there is danger from fire from February till 

 July, and this danger is increased by the fall of the dead Sal 

 leaves in March and April. In the western part of these 



