September 19, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



379 



variety, and the thousands of seedlings in various stages of 

 growth are well worth study. September is not a month 

 when one expects to find many Orchids in bloom, but among 

 the Cypripediums I noted in flower C. gigas, C. Charlesworthii, 

 C. fo, C. Io grande, C. Parishii, C. Schomburgkianum, C. Day- 

 anum, C. supercialiare ornatum, C. (Enanflius superbum, C. 

 Allanianum and C. niveum. Hundreds of plants of Dendro- 

 bium grande were in flower or bud, while of the few Cattleyas 

 in bloom C. Chrysotoxa was the best. The so-called Tooth- 

 brush Orchid, Dendrobium secundum, was showing numerous 

 small yellow flowers, while Oncidium incurvum and O. orni- 

 thorhynchum were in good bloom. 



In several acres of ground devoted to hardy perennials the 

 plants were suffering severely from the long-continued drought, 

 and few varieties were blooming to satisfaction, although there 

 was much to admire among the different kinds of Helianthus, 

 Hibiscus, Phlox paniculata, Liatris, Boltonia asteroides, Platy- 

 codon, Statice, Sedum, Delphinium Sinense and D.formosum. 

 A variegated variety of Ajuga reptans, which grows from two 

 to three inches high, with a white zone enclosing a green cen- 

 tre, is a hardy plant of rapid growth, and since it is easily 

 propagated it ought to be very effective for carpet-bedding 

 and for the garden. r _, „, „ . 



Taunton, Mass. IV. N. Craig. 



Meetings of Societies. 



American Forestry Association. — III. 



FOREST-FIRES IN SOUTH JERSEY. 



MR. JOHN GIFFORD, of May's Landing, New Jersey, a mem- 

 ber of the State Geological Survey, in a paper on this subject, 

 described the part of the state subject to these fires as that por- 

 tion extending southward from a line drawn from Long Branch 

 to Salem, an area of some twenty-five hundred square miles. 

 Excepting the land along the shore and in places along the rivers 

 and railroads, this large area is an almost unbroken stretch of 

 forest. Much of the territory, often called the Southern Inte- 

 rior, is in an impoverished condition, due mainly to forest-fires. 

 The land is seldom more than 150 feet above the sea-level, 

 and is drained by several rivers, the sources of which are all 

 in bogs and swamps within its own borders. The burning of 

 the woods, therefore, seriously affects the water-supply of all 

 this region, the failing of which has recently caused much diffi- 

 culty. The soil is sandy loam and gravel. Much of the land 

 is fit for cultivation, and the rest is coarse white sand mixed 

 with small quartz pebbles. Broad stretches of territory would 

 be deserts of shifting sand were it not for the trees which hold 

 it in place, ,and these plains should be left permanently 

 wooded. 



On the upland the Oak and Pine, mainly Pinus rigida, are cut 

 for cord- wood, and on the lowlands or "islands" in the swamp 

 excellent timber is furnished by these same trees when they 

 escape injury by forest-fires. White Cedar is the most valua- 

 ble wood in south Jersey for lumber, but, owing to the forest- 

 fires and an increasing demand for it, it is becoming scarce, 

 and the bottoms, where this tree once grew abundantly, and 

 which are natural reservoirs for water, are now usually turned 

 into Cranberry-bogs when suitably located. The so-called 

 swamp-forests consist mainly of a dense growth of Sour Gum, 

 Swamp Maple, Pitch Pine, Magnolia (M. glauca), Liquidambar, 

 Oaks, and occasionally trees of other species. Owing to diffi- 

 culties in getting out the timber, the swamp-forests are seldom 

 cut. Marsh-lands, sometimes called savanna-lands, are at 

 present worthless. These are covered with low bushes, grass 

 and a few straggling trees. It is believed by many that when 

 forest-fires are stopped these marsh-lands can readily be 

 seeded, and that they will support a growth of White Cedar, 

 which will do much toward increasing and regulating the sup- 

 ply of water. 



There is scarcely a square mile in the southern interior of 

 New Jersey which has not been burnt over by forest-fires 

 during the past five years, and the fires this year were more 

 destructive than in any preceding years. These forest-fires are 

 mainly set in one of four ways : 1, by incendiaries ; 2, by loco- 

 motives ; 3, by careless brush-burners ; 4, by lightning. The 

 fires set by locomotives can be prevented by the use of a spark- 

 arrester ; by having places especially prepared for the dump- 

 ing of hot coals and by clearing and plowing the land along 

 the railway. Often, however, to produce a better draft, the 

 arrester is withdrawn or holes are made in it, and hotcoals are 

 carelessly dumped where they quickly generate a fire. As 

 evidence that fires can be prevented by observing the above 

 precautions, Mr. Gifford stated the fact that while the officials 



of a railroad in that part of the state were the owners of wood- 

 land bordering the track not a single fire was set. 



The land along the railroads has been burned to such an ex- 

 tent that there is little danger of a fire gaining much headway 

 there now. The most serious danger is from lawless men who 

 kindle forest-fires to hide their thefts of timber. The worst 

 fire of this season, supposed to have been deliberately started, 

 burned over 60,000 acres, besides destroying several houses, 

 and a fire near McKeetown destroyed woodland growth on 

 12,000 acres. The latter fire escaped from a workman who 

 was burning brush. A large foreign element has come to 

 south Jersey to clear farms, and this considerably increases 

 the danger of fires from burning brush. On the other hand, 

 sections .of cleared land serve to check the headway of a 

 fire. 



Young timber is usually killed to the ground by forest-fires. 

 Large timber recovers, but its vitality is reduced, and the 

 charred wood is disagreeable to handle. Only a small quantity 

 of large timber is now standing in south Jersey, though Jersey 

 Hard Pine was once plentiful. Ships timbered with it in 1861 

 are still perfectly sound. Here and there in a swamp a large 

 Pitch Pine may still be seen. Old Heart Cedar is noted for its 

 durability, but now for fear of destruction by fires lumbermen 

 cut it in a sappy state when it is fit only for laths and shingles ; 

 and for fear of fire, Cedar is usually cut as soon as it is big 

 enough for rails or even hoop-poles. The shoots which spring 

 from the roots of burnt Oak were used for hoop-poles a few 

 years ago, but now, owing to the substitution of bags for bar- 

 rels and iron for wooden hoops, there is practically no demand 

 for them. 



The desolation of this country is mainly caused by forest- 

 fires which have swept over it for many years. When a fire - 

 passes over a. scrubby growth on sandy soil it not only burns 

 the leaves and wood, but even devours the organic matter in 

 the surface soil. The soil becomes scorchingly hot, and the 

 ashes thus produced are quickly beaten through the porous 

 earth and nothing is left but a bed of sand and charred sticks. 

 While only gnarled and stunted Oaks and Pine survive on land 

 repeatedly burned over, very large Tulip-trees and Beeches 

 are not uncommon on islands in the swamps. Fire is es- 

 pecially destructive to Cedar, for not only does it ruin the 

 standing timber, but it burns deep down into the bottom. Cran- 

 berry bogs, which are usually located on Cedar swamp- 

 bottoms, are also much injured by fire. It is necessary to dig 

 deep trenches to check its course, since it burns several feet 

 into the peat and appears here and there in unexpected places 

 several yards away. 



A careful estimate places the number of acres of woodland 

 in New Jersey burnt over during the past six months at 200,000, 

 including many houses and other buildings, bogs, swamps 

 and corded wood. Besides this, the consequential damages 

 are much greater. When fire is discovered, the owner of the 

 land, if he happens to be near, gathers together a few men 

 and hastens to fight it. If it has gained much headway he is 

 powerless to stop it, and if by change of wind it shifts to 

 another man's property he leaves it and no longer concerns 

 himself about it. Men are soon exhausted with the heat and 

 smoke and often receive little or no recompense for their 

 work, and many land-owners claim that there is much diffi- 

 culty in procuring competent men, and unskilled persons 

 often do more damage than good. It requires cool-headed- 

 ness and an accurate knowledge of the region to successfully 

 combat a fire. By back-firing in improper places fires gain 

 strength. In spite of the continuity of the woods a fire is more 

 easily controlled in south Jersey than in a mountainous coun- 

 try. Roads are excellent points of vantage, and if properly 

 trimmed are generally sufficient to check fire. If the wind is 

 high the sparks are often carried long distances, and fires 

 themselves move at a rapid rate, creating a strong' draft and 

 roaring like the ocean, but in ordinary fires a road or a stream, 

 or even a spur of swamp, is sufficient to check their headway. 

 It is highly important, therefore, that overseers keep the brush 

 from the sides of the road. 



A recently enacted law provides a fire-marshal, who is 

 charged with the control of all fires occurring in his township. 

 An observation tower and telescope give a view over almost 

 any township in south Jersey, and the marshal is empowered, 

 on the discovery of a fire, to employ and pay any required 

 number of men to help in putting it out. It is believed that 

 every fire can be checked by this means before it has gained 

 headway. A society for the prevention of forest -destruction 

 is now being formed which will consist mainly of land-owners, 

 who will appoint an agent to insist upon the enforcement ot 

 the law and to see that the marshals do their work properly 

 and that malicious fire-setters are punished. 



