144 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN 



staff and careful organisation in the latter country 

 have done much to mitigate this, the greatest enemy 

 of the forests during the hot dry periods of the 

 year. 



When one finds that in these Asiatic Russian forests 

 a single forest guard may be in charge, for protective 

 purposes, of an area which runs from 30,000 to 

 250,000 acres of forest, there can be little real pro- 

 tection from fire save on paper. It is stated that 

 recently, just before the outbreak of the war, larger 

 sums were being allocated for the purpose of pro- 

 tection, and certainly in the interests of the community 

 and the future welfare and prosperity of the country, 

 for these forests are a very valuable, an increasingly 

 valuable, property, expense should not be spared in 

 ensuring their safety. As a result of the forest fires, 

 which are said to rival those of Canada and America 

 in size, considerable areas of country are covered 

 with shrubs of little value or with grass and moss, the 

 latter preventing the growth of young seedlings of fir 

 and spruce, etc., which may germinate from seed 

 fallen from the scattered trees standing on the area. 

 The fires also seriously interfere with hunting, which 

 forms an important trade in parts of Siberia. As long 

 ago as 1774 the Government were awake to the serious 

 nature of these fires, for in that year a law was passed 

 forbidding " the burning of the forests in the Siberian 

 Government in which the sable was hunted." With a 

 staff inadequate to enforce the law it practically 

 remained a dead letter. 



Considerable progress has been made with the 

 work of investigation into the resources of the large 



