CARE AND PROTECTION OF FORESTS. 73 



Grasses and forage plants can not have the greatest growth unless they 

 have the best soil. Forest fires never help soil. They burn off the leaves 

 and decayed vegetation, the very things that help hold moisture and add 

 fertility to the land. They leave the ground exposed to erosion, and even 

 the ashes that might otherwise have aided plant growth, are easily washed 

 away; they frequently burn or scorch the soil, making it further impov- 

 erished for plant growth. Evaporation takes place more rapidly ; the 

 soil becomes hard and dry, and plant life can not thrive best under such 

 conditions. 



Fire damage to fish. Everyone knows of the big volumes of water that 

 pass out through our streams during winter and spring ; and that streams 

 get very low during the summer and fall. Great quantities of fish can 

 not grow in streams, even those with large beds, if they contain but little 

 water. No one would expect a river to be an excellent fish stream if it 

 went dry or became very low during a part of every year. The smallest 

 amount of water in a stream, at any time of the year may determine the 

 amount of fish that stream can maintain. It may be claimed that a supply 

 of fish will come up stream during high water, and this is no doubt true, 

 but if the streams from which they may come have been likewise low, 

 then their producing capacity has also been diminished and we are forced 

 to admit our fish supply has been lessened all round. And too, if a large 

 number were to come up stream and not go back with the retiring water, 

 when the stream reaches its low mark, it would not be able to support an 

 extra number. Thus some would necessarily die. Low water becomes 

 impure and stagnant, and not best for fish production. 



Our streams furnish energy for power plants and other industries, but 

 often is deficient in low water. River freightage is diminished on account 

 of the low water of the rivers in the dry season. And although other 

 causes work to help bring about this lessened amount of water, forest 

 fires must be charged with a very great deal of it. 



