86 Our Field and Forest Trees 



Our northern neighbors try to put into these 

 forest reserves only land that is unfit for farms or 

 pastures. " We ask," says Mr. Campbell, the 

 Dominion Superintendent of Forestry, " only the 

 waste places, the rocks, the sand, and the broken 

 hills." 



But In Canada, as In the United States, there 

 are some small areas of good grass land so 

 enclosed by forest that when the boundaries are 

 made they cannot be left out; and so in Canada, 

 as In the United States, cattle and horses are 

 allowed to graze In the reserves if their owners 

 pay the forest officers a small monthly fee; and 

 settlers living near reserves are allowed to pur- 

 chase hay for use on their own farms. 



" The reserves," says one of the Forestry Bul- 

 letins, " are for the use of the people — then why 

 should good grass be allowed to go to waste? 

 The grazing may be desirable also as a protection 

 to the woods. 



" In some places the ground is covered with a 

 dense growth of long grass and pea vine. This, 

 when dry, offers much fuel for fire, and when fire 

 once gets In It Is almost Impossible to check the 

 flame. Moreover, cattle on the range have much 

 the same habits as the buffalo. On going to water 

 they follow one another and make deeply trodden 

 paths. These paths ai^e fire lines, small, to be 

 sure, but there are many of them, and they give 

 lines from which to back-fire." 



