FOREST CONSEKVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION. J 



passed punitive laws against setting fires. What are needed now are 

 laws providing for the establishment of a protective system and 

 funds to maintain it. Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas have 

 recently enacted such legislation. It will be to the lasting advantage 

 of the other States in the region to follow the example of these three.^ 

 Closely related to forest fires is the destruction of timber by in- 

 sects, since the damage done by fire affords entrance for the beetle 

 into the timber, while trees damaged by insects are particularly liable 

 to destruction by fire. Although not generally recognized, insect 

 attacks may cause widespread and serious damage to pine timber in 

 the South. Since 1902 the southern pine beetle has been more or less 

 active in the Southern States from Virginia to Texas, and in some 

 localities has killed a large amount of timber. It is not within the 

 scope of this bulletin to discuss insect depredations, but any State 

 which plans to inaugurate a forest policy should communicate with 

 the Bureau of Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, for advice regarding the best means of preventing injury 

 to timber from this source. 



UNRESTRICTED GRAZING. 



Wherever stock is permitted to run at large, it is the general prac- 

 tice to fire the woods once or twice a year in the belief that this im- 

 proves the forage. Fires set for this purpose cause great damage to 

 the young growth and do not make the grass any better. As a matter 

 of fact, continued burning reduces the vitality of the better grasses, 

 which are then replaced by less desirable ones. More than this, if 

 fires were kept out new grass would actually make better growth, 

 partly as a result of receiving protection from the older grasses ; and 

 often a mixture of new and old grass makes much more satisfactory 

 feed for cattle than new grass alone. 



Damage to the forest, especially in the longleaf pine region, is 

 caused by hogs devouring pine seeds and tearing up pine seedlings 

 for their tender roots. The amount of such damage, when the whole 

 region is taken into account, is really large and must be reckoned 

 with. 



The grazing problem can be solved in large measure by impressing 

 upon the farmers and landowners the fact that in the long run the 

 forage is injured, instead of being improved by fire in the woods every 

 year and by making the most of local laws which prohibit stock 

 being run at large. The best and surest means, however, of putting 

 an end to the damage to woods and forage is a State-wide law com- 

 pelling the inclosure of stock. 



1 Virginia, cliap. 195, laws 1914 ; North Carolina, chap. 243, public laws, 1915 ; Texas, 

 chap. 141, laws, 1915. 



