THE WHITE PINE REGION 



333 



fires. In fact, an increase in population, due to manufacturing 

 development, often brings in a class of people, who, by their 

 carelessness, increase the fire danger. The railroads are numer- 

 ous and carry a heavy traffic, and frequently traverse wooded 

 areas instead of passing mainly through cleared valleys, as in 

 the northern hardwoods region. There are large areas, in the 

 aggregate, of coniferous stands on dry sandy soils, a combination 

 causing great fire hazard. A large majority of the fires, and 



Fig. 



[23. — A stand of white pine has just been cut clear here, for sawlogs and cordwood. 

 The brush should be piled and burned and the land planted. 



the most dangerous, occur on such situations. For these rea- 

 sons the danger and frequency of forest fires is even greater 

 than in the two forest regions already discussed. 



Both surface and crown fires occur, though the former is the 

 prevalent kind. On sandy soils, where the growth is pure or 

 nearly pure of conifers, the surface fires may develop into de- 

 structive crown fires. The extent to which gray birch has 

 spread over lands formerly in white pine or valuable hard- 

 woods is the result largely of fires rather than cutting. This is 

 one of the worst effects of forest fires in this region. On the 



