Forest Fires. 



The pineta of tlie Landes and the forests of the Maiires and 

 Esterel are consiantly ravaged by that plague — FIRE. In organis- 

 ing those forestSj whether with a vii-w to the production of resia 

 or of cork, the first care of all should be to suggest efficacious 

 measures for their protection against fire. The leaf-canopy in 

 those forests being never complete, the soil is always more or less 

 covered with brushwood, and the pine trees, gorged with resin, 

 are constantly dropping on it highly inflammable matter. It is 

 with the brushwood and the pine trees that the fires originate, and 

 it is, therefore, with them that we must begin, if we wish to keep 

 them out. 



Everywhere in France the means adopted for protection 

 against fire and for preventing it from spreading consists of fire- 

 paths or shelter trenches cut through the forest at regular dis- 

 tances, and in keeping the soil clear of brushwood. Indeed, these 

 measures constitute the only effective procedure for preventing 

 and checking forest conflagrations. But the paths, although 

 absolutely necessary to facilitate the circulation of the estublish- 

 ment and to form protective lines, are by themselves insufficient 

 to check the progress of fire ; while as regards the clearing away 

 of the brushwood, that operation necessitates an outlay and an 

 amount of labour which are altogether prohibitory in the vast 

 areas we have to deal with ; and besides this, the removal of the 

 brushwood is unfavorable to the growth of the forest itself. But 

 it is always possible to combine the two systems, in the right 

 proportion, by employing a limited network of protective paths 

 and partial clearing of the brushwood, and taking the further 

 precaution of planting belts of trees which lend themselves less 

 than the pine to the kindling and progress of fire. 



The method of procedure in each case must depend on the 

 character of the district and forest concerned, on the means at 

 one's disposal, and on the object sought. Thus the private owner 

 of a small forest can keep the entire length of its boundary clear 

 of bushes over a considerable width, and even go so far as to ex- 

 tend the clearing to the whole area of the forest. But when it 

 comes to protecting vast surfaces, the first of those two methods is 

 not effective enough, while the second ceases to be practicable. 



