THE SPRUCE REGION 



255 



soon as the snow disappears and lasting until the green foliage 

 is well out. In ordinary seasons this is from the latter part of 

 April until well into June. The second danger season is the 

 early fall after the leaves have dropped from the trees and before 

 snow comes, usually from early in September until well into 

 October. The distribution of the rainfall controls the season 

 of fire damage. An early spring with little rainfall may cause 

 the fire season to open early, and if the rain continues scanty 

 may make dangerous conditions all summer. The season of 

 1908 furnishes a good example of this. In the report of the 

 Forest Commissioner of Maine for 1907 and 1908, he says, 

 speaking of the season of 1908: ''The dry season began early in 

 May and extended until October 27th, during which period there 

 were not more than three weeks when forest fires would not run." 

 Such a condition is unusual and does not occur on the average 

 once a decade. 



The following table illustrates the effect of drouth in increasing 

 forest fires: 



FOREST FIRES IN THE SPRUCE REGION OF MAINE FOR THE 

 YEARS 1907-1910.1 



Number of 

 fires. 



Acres burned 

 over. 



Average area 

 burned over 

 per fire, acres. 



1907. 

 1908. 

 1909. 

 [910. 



16 



126 



68 



18 



2,124 



98,691 



27-083 



267 



'^33 



783 



398 



15 



Total. 



228 



128,165 



Annual average . 



562 



1 This table is compiled from the seventh and eighth reports of the Forest Commissioner of 

 Maine. The unincorporated towns of Maine have been taken as making up the spruce region of 

 Maine. 



What is most significant in bringing out the relative increase 

 of damage done in a dry season is the large area burned over by 

 the average fire in 1908 as compared with 1907, 1909, and 1910. 

 In 1908 the area burned over averaged 783 acres per fire, as 



