THE SPROUT HARDWOODS REGION 369 



November. In the average year the most dangerous period 

 is in the spring, before vegetation starts, and then after the 

 leaves have dropped in the fall comes a second period of danger. 

 The occurrence of drought may, however, change the season of 

 greatest danger. 



The lack of extensive coniferous stands and large areas of 

 sandy soils makes the natural fire hazard less than in the white 

 pine region. On the other hand, both regions are equally ex- 

 posed in having a dense population; with many foreigners, care- 

 less about fires, attracted by the manufacturing interests; and in 

 having many railroad lines running through woodlands. 



Railroads, careless people, and brush burning to clear up 

 land are the three principal causes of forest fires, given in order 

 of importance. As in other regions, a large part of the fires are 

 reported as of unknown cause, but probably the majority of 

 these fires are due to carelessness of people in or near wood- 

 land, which should be classed as the chief cause of fires in the 

 region. 



Relatively few fires occur in the Massachusetts section of 

 the region,^ as conditions more nearly approach those of the 

 northern hardwoods than of the sprout hardwoods region. The 

 railroads here traverse cleared valleys with an agricultural popula- 

 tion and few important manufacturing industries, and the region 

 is therefore fairly free from this class of careless people. Two 

 chief causes of forest fires are thus lacking in the Massachusetts 

 section. - 



Methods of Fire Protection. — In so far as an ideal system of 

 fire protection is concerned, what was said in the two previously 

 considered regions applies in the sprout hardwoods region. To 

 avoid repetition the reader is referred for details to these regions 

 and to Chapter VIII. 



1 The only portion of Massachusetts included in the sprout hardwoods region 

 is a small area in the extreme southwest corner of the state. The portion of 

 Massachusetts which suffers most lies in the pine region. 



^ Further information on forest fires will be found in the appendix, under the 

 heading "Forest Fire Statistics." 



