Ab. 
forest fires, principally ground fires, to encourage the growth of grass 
for deer and elk. Early settlers held these fires partly responsible for 
huge areas of "barrens," or "sapling land," on the Maryland Piedmont, 
and for an extremely thin shrub layer in the forest of the Coastal Plain. 
The Indians also set fires to drive game and to clear village sites 
(Middleton, 1953). Early settlers imitated the practice of forest 
burning to benefit their cattle and to clear fields (Marye, 1955). 
However, the importance of forest fires should not be overestimated. 
Fire did not prevent the thin-barked tuliptree or yellow-poplar from 
being a characteristic species, as evidenced by the names Tulip Hill 
(Kelly, 1965), Poplar Neck, Poplar Knoil, etc. given by early settlers. 
The nuts of other fire-sensitive trees, such as beech and hickory, were 
eaten by the Indians who left the shell heaps and probably also by the 
later Susquehannocks. The normally heavy rainfall and numerous streams 
in Anne Arundel County probably kept the forest fairly moist and limited 
the spread of ground fires. 
Colonial settlement in the county began about the year 1650, and 
tobacco soon became the principal crop. It was raised throughout the 
vicinity of the Chesapeake Bay Center (Kelly, 1965). As tobacco con- 
sumes much nitrogen and potash, only freshly cleared land produced good 
crops, and the forest was rapidly cleared to yield the best crops 
obtainable (Craven, 1926). Soil erosion and stream siltation became so 
serious that in 1704 and 1743 laws were passed against the clearing of 
stream banks (Middleton, 1953). For this reason, and because of rough 
terrain or inaccessability, part of the present forest on Java Farm 
(along Muddy Creek and on Fox Point and Hog Island) may have escaped 
