FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 347 



In most parts of the United States, if the soil is not burned so deeply as to prevent 

 future tree growth, the fires result in a change of forest composition, the succeeding 

 growth being composed of species differing greatly from that of the original woods; 

 but in New York, the poplar, pin cherry, and canoe birch, which invariably succeed a 

 single burning, are followed by the spruce, which is one of the most prominent and 

 valuable species in our primitive forests. This is a favorable condition, for the spruce 

 is a merchantable tree. Its reappearance under such unfavorable conditions is due to 

 its remarkable power of reproduction. 



Fires occur more often and spread more rapidly in forests composed of coniferous 

 trees than in woods composed of deciduous ones. Conifers, which include all our 

 evergreen species, are all more or less resinous, ignite easily, and make an intense 

 heat. It is for this reason that the fires in the pineries of the Northwest are so much 

 more extensive and destructive than those in the Adirondacks and Catskills, where 

 over seventy per cent, of the forests are hardwoods. 



The causes from which forest fires originate are as follows : 



First: Clearing land. More than one-half of the forest fires in New York — and 

 elsewhere as well — originate in the fires started by the farmers on their own grounds 

 for the purpose of burning the brush, log heaps, or stumps in some fallow. Through 

 carelessness or lack of persons on watch, the fire escapes into some adjoining 

 woods, and a general conflagration ensues. Many farmers, in order to get a clean 

 burn, wait for a dry time; some, through thoughtlessness, will start their fallow fires on 

 a windy day. At times, when a brush fire is kindled on a still summer morning, a 

 strong wind may arise during the day which will drive the flames into the adjoining 

 timber, if not properly taken care of. These brush fires have proved such- a prolific 

 source of evil that, in New York, a provision has been inserted in the forestry law for- 

 bidding the kindling of any fallow fires in the woodland towns except in winter, and 

 in the summer months during which the trees are in full leaf. The farmers, through 

 their carelessness in this respect, have destroyed more forests than the lumbermen in 

 the course of their work. Mention should be made here, also, of fires set intentionally 

 to improve pasturage in open woods, it being done mostly by people who do not own 

 the land which they thus burn over. 



Second: Abandoned camp-fires. The persons who are responsible for damage from 

 this cause include hunters, fishermen, travelers, surveyors and other persons journeying 

 through the woods or camping there. A camp-fire is too often left burning after 

 parties have left the ground and resumed their journey. A rising wind fans the 

 smoldering embers into life, sending the fire along some connecting mass of dead 

 leaves until it reaches a dry and fallen tree top, heap of brush, or group of resinous 

 young evergreens. Then in a few minutes the forest becomes a roaring mass of 



