120 FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



only by the great volume of smoke rising, which is seen miles away, and the 

 fire is beyond control before any one can reach the place. In the case of the 

 railroads the only safe remedy is to eliminate sparks in order to prevent 

 fires; hence the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner has offered as a 

 suggestion that oil-burning locomotives be used. The cost of such fuel 

 will be higher than coal ; but it is not a question of cost or damages that is to 

 be settled. It is a question of saving our great, grand Adirondack forest, 

 preserving the cover of our watersheds, protecting our game, supplying 

 cold water for fish, saving for the future our valuable timber worth millions 

 of dollars, maintaining the forest for the benefit of the thousands of tuber- 

 cular sufferers who are receiving life from the beneficial effect of the forest 

 and mountain air, fostering the young forest growths and insuring beyond 

 question the safety of that great natural heritage — a heritage that once 

 destroyed cannot be replaced in many generations. 



Not all fires, however, are caused by railroads. In the past, small land- 

 owners have been anxious to cut a wood supply in the winter, burn the 

 brush the following spring and get in a crop at once. Burning the debris 

 in a cutting, or " fallow " as it is often called, is a very dangerous thing to 

 do in the spring of the year when all the vegetation is dead, and fire will run 

 rapidly if the surface is dry. A rigid enforcement of the law prohibiting 

 setting such fires from April 15th to June 1st and from September 15th to 

 November 10th under any circumstances, and from July 1st to September 

 15th only after securing a permit from a firewarden, has reduced loss from 

 this source greatly. Landowners are now awake and are realizing that 

 their land is worth more for forest purposes than for agricultural use ; but 

 in addition, many have felt the effects of a rigid enforcement of the law. 

 This problem is now solved and only requires the continued enforcement 

 of the law. 



Other sources of fires are those caused by campers, hunters and fisher- 

 men roving the woods. It is true that occasionally a fire is set on account 

 of spite, or to get work in fighting it; but such cases are rare. There are, 

 however, a large number of fires caused by careless people traveling through 

 the woods. Such a fire may be left by a lazy guide, or by a " greenhorn " 

 who does not realize the danger or how easily and rapidly the fire will 

 spread. Another class of fires caused by these same people starts from camp 



