78 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



establish themselves on a permanent basis. From this point of view 

 it may be argued that the lopping of tops facilitates nattiral reproduction, 

 since the lopped stems of trees will unquestionably decay and acquire 

 a covering of moss on the ground, thus forming a suitable seed bed for 

 spruce seedlings, much more rapidly than would be the case were the 

 tops not lopped. In the latter event, the stem of the imlop'ped top will 

 remain in the air for many years, imtil the lower branches decay suffi- 

 ciently to allow the stem to faU to the ground, after which the process 

 of rotting will set in rapidly and a cover of Gioss will be formed. 



Too much attention can not be given the question of reproduction, 

 since, in the long run, the true test of any system of forest management 

 will be the extent to which the forest is re-established on cut-over 

 areas. It must, however, at the same time be recognized, that the fund- 

 amental requisite to this end is protection from fire. Unless this is secur- 

 ed, all other measures looking to the re-establishment of the forest 

 are useless. The perpetuation of the forest through wise use, con- 

 stitutes the distinguishing characteristic of the forester, as contrasted 

 with the old-time lumberman. 



(2-b) Effect on Soil 

 The effect of fire upon the soil is chiefly important because of its 

 bearing upon the re-establishment of the forest. Soil fires in the Adiron- 

 dacks either result in a material change in the composition of the forest, 

 or render the land incapable of producing anything of value for an 

 indefinite time, through destruction of the elements of fertility and 

 through erosion of the remaining mineral soil. Planting is generally 

 necessary, to secure a forest cover of valuable species on bums, especi- 

 ally where fires have been successive, thus destroying seed trees. 



Opponents of the top-lopping law argue that top-lopping tends 

 to harder bimis, and therefore to greater soil destruction in case a 

 fire once gets started. This subject has already been discussed in 

 part under previous headings, and the conclusion reached that lopping 

 tends toward a cleaner bum, and that a fire will very probably be some- 

 what hotter if it occurs during the first two or three years after the cut- 

 ting. It does not, however, necessarily foUow that the danger of soil 

 destruction is sufficiently greater with tops lopped to furnish any real 

 argument against the law. If weather conditions are very dry and a 

 fire gets started, it will destroy practically everything, entirely regardless 

 of whether tops are lopped or not. The tremendous areas of unlopped 

 slash burned over in the great fires of 1903 and 1908 in the Adirondacks 

 illustrate this sufficiently well. In such a time, not only the brush but 

 the thick layer of decayed vegetation known as duff will be as dry as 

 tinder, and any kind of a fire will develop into a soil fire. Unless the 



