NOKTH CAROLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 21 



cated to realize that the results along the lines desired do not by any means 

 compensate for the possible, or even actual loss by such fires. There are 

 many things that in themselves appear to be small that cause these forest 

 fires. The night hunter, by carelessly handling his torches, or leaving fires 

 in the woods to be fanned into flames and spread by rising winds, often starts 

 a fire that sweeps over the forest and does immense damage. Again, the 

 smoker in passing through the forest, or the hunter by day or night, care- 

 lessly throwing aside the stump of a cigar or cigarette, or shaking the ashes 

 from a pipe, starts a fire that spreads over the whole country and does im- 

 mense damage. A great many of our owners of lands have undertaken to 

 prohibit hunters from passing through their lands, and in this way a consid- 

 erable prejudice has been raised against landowners, the hunters feeling that 

 the objection is raised purely because of the game that they seek, while as a 

 matter of fact the landowner is more interested in preventing damage to his 

 lands by fires than he is in the game caught upon his land or a few trees cut 

 down by the night hunter. A proper education must be undertaken and 

 carried out to overcome this prejudice. 



Again, the farmer in clearing his lands in the spring will build up fires to 

 burn off the brush, and by carelessness or thoughtlessness allow the flames 

 to be carried into adjacent fields or forests by the winds prevalent in the 

 spring, and thus the country around for miles will be swept by fire and a 

 damage done that will amount to more than all the crops that will be raised 

 on the lands being cleared. The farmers need to be educated to the danger 

 of spreading these fires, and the necessity of laws for the prevention of these 

 fires in order to do away with the damage caused by them. Again, the rail- 

 roads should be required by law to keep their rights of way so protected 

 from the surrounding country that the sparks from their engines will not 

 start these fires, for they not only do a great damage to the country and the 

 owners of the lands, but tend to promote a prejudice between the people and 

 the railroads. 



In conclusion, Mr. President and gentlemen, I beg to say that it will afford 

 me great pleasure to do anything I can in enforcing the laws that we now 

 have on our statute books to prevent forest fires, and to aid in having our 

 Legislature to add other suitable and necessary laws, and especially should 

 these laws be so formed and enforced that the people may be educated to 

 realize their advantage and necessity, so as to lessen instead of increasing 

 the friction between the different classes of our people. We have already 

 had some of this in the prejudices brought against lumber companies who 

 have undertaken to protect their holdings by prosecutions against parties for 

 starting fires. 



I will unite with you, and use every means in my power in enforcing the 

 laws, and reducing our fire waste from this cause in our State. 



An interesting discussion followed Mr. Young's paper, in which Mr. 

 Joseph Hyde Pratt, Mr. J, S. Holmes, and others took part. 



Mr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, State Geologist, then gave a talk on the work 

 the ISTorth Carolina Geological and Economic Survey was doing to 



