114 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



good second cutting. Some land' in this state that was first cut 

 in the early days of the logging industry, when it was customary 

 to cut nothing but that which would make a ten-inch log, have 

 been logged two or three times since, and with a good profit. 



Since fires render most of the cut-over lands in this state 

 entirely non-productive, and since the annual increase on the 

 trees that should grow on such land is at least 185 feet board 

 measure per acre, it is plain that the loss to the people of the 

 state on the 6,000,000 or more acres of cut-over lands is very 

 large. 



Forest fires not only destroy a very great amount of prop- 

 erty each year, but they occasionally cause great loss of life. In 

 the Hinckley fire of 1894 (which was entirely the result of ignor- 

 ance and neglect) there is known to have been 424 lives lost, 

 besides a large amount of property, and occasionally in other 

 years settlers have had to flee for their lives, and leave their 

 houses and crops to be burned. 



It is impossible for fires to run over any forest land without 

 doing great injury. The amount of damage done by them is 

 difficult to estimate, and varies much according to the time of 

 year, the age and condition of the trees, the soil and the severity 

 of the fire. 



Forest fires are sometimes grouped into the three following 

 classes: (i) Underground Fires, that do not show much on 

 the surface, but which destroy the roots of trees and greatly 

 injure the soil. (2) Surface Fires, which burn the leaves and 

 grass in the woods, and do much damage by destroying the for- 

 est floor and killing the young seedlings. (3) Crown Fires, 

 which run in the crowns of the trees, and when once started arc 

 almost irresistible. The latter is one of the worst forms, and is 

 generally accompanied by surface, and often by underground, 

 fires. 



The Killing of Mature Trees by any of these three kinds 

 of fires entails -but a slight loss comparatively to the timber, 

 providing it is accessible to market, as the trees can be cut the 

 following winter. But fires that kill the mature growth gener- 

 ally do great damage by killing the young growth and destroy- 

 ing the forest floor. Timber that is allowed to stand more than 

 one or two years after being killed by fire generally suffers much 



