FOREST FIRES 



Minnesota Masachaett 



Woodland . . - . . 31,360,000 acres.* 2,688,000 acres.* 

 Average area burned . . 58,741 " 21,557 " 

 Average per cent of total acre- 

 age burned . . . . 19 of one per cent. .80 of one per cent. 

 Average loss in money . . $49,860 $60,662 



Nor can Massachusetts be excused on the ground of peculiar 

 difficulties. While it is true that Massachusetts is more 

 densely populated and fires are more likely to occur in densely 

 settled sections, it is also true that where the country is 

 densely settled the woodlands are broken up by fields which 

 tend to interrupt the spread of a forest fire; and there are 

 also more people to put a fire out when it is started. While 

 it is true that some sections of Massachusetts have dry, sandy 

 soils that are conducive to forest fires, it is also true that like 

 conditions exist in Minnesota. While it is true that Massa- 

 chusetts has 2,108f miles of steam railroad and the railroads 

 set many fires, it is also true that Minnesota has 7,467 miles 

 of steam road. 



In other words, there is a great waste of forest property in 

 Massachusetts that can and ought to be prevented. 



PART II. CAUSES 



The causes of forest fires are numerous, and include 

 matches, cigar stumps, camp fires, bonfires, brush burning, 

 and locomotives. Of these, brush fires and locomotives de- 

 serve special mention. 



BKUSH BURNING 



Farmers are the chief offenders in the careless burning 

 of brush and rubbish in the open. There is little or no excuse 

 for the man who burns brush at such a time and in such a 

 way as to set his own or his neighbors woods afire. Many, 

 if not all of the fires from this cause, could be prevented by 

 a little more care on the part of the farmers and by the 

 adoption and strict enforcement of the law which requires 



* Defebaugh's " History of the Lumber Industry of America," vol. 1. p. 284. 

 t 37th Annual Report of Mass. R. R. Commissioners, p. 6. 



