FOEESTEY LESSONS ON" HOME WOODLANDS 19 



Topics of study. — Fire, the arch enemy of the forest : It kills large 

 numbers of the smaller trees and kills or weakens the vitality of the 

 older trees; the humus layers over the ground are destroyed. The 

 loss of the protective covering exerts a marked effect in causing the 

 soil to dry out and become hard as a result of which the rain is shed 

 off rapidly following dry weather, much as when it falls on a house 

 roof. Trees in farm woodlands and city parks are often seen dying 

 at the tops, most usually from this cause. 



HELP 



PREVENT WOODS FIRES. 

 BE SURE your match is out before throwing it away. 

 DON'T throw away burning tobacco. 

 CHOOSE a safe place and make your camp fire small. 

 PUT OUT your fire with water and then cover it with 

 earth. 



DON'T make large brush heaps. Choose a still day for 

 burning and plow furrows to protect near-by woods. 

 BE CAREFUL WITH FIRE. 



Forest rangers employed by the States and Government for the ad- 

 ministration and protection of the State and national forests. What 

 type of men are required for forest rangers whose duties require them 

 to live out of doors and ride or work in all kinds of weather? Each 

 national forest divided into districts in charge of rangers. Fire-pro- 

 tective plans worked out in great detail for detecting and fighting 

 fires as soon as possible after they start. Fire-fighting equipment, 

 such as lookout peaks and towers, telephone lines, and fire-fighting 

 tool boxes at convenient points over the forest. Airplanes and radio 

 also have their uses. 



Protection for State forest lands by similarly organized methods. 

 Federal cooperation with the various States authorized by the Weeks 

 law, for the protecting against fire of headwaters of navigable 

 streams. 



The grazing of livestock has much the same effect in removing 

 the protective covering and packing the ground hard. Cattle and 

 horses browse off the tender young seedlings and tramp down the 

 upper soil layers. Sheep and goats are very destructive to young 

 seedlings, particularly when closely herded. Hogs feed upon most 

 kinds of acorns and nuts, although by rooting up the leaf litter they 

 sometimes favorably expose the mineral soil for the quick germina- 

 tion of tree seeds. Hogs are very destructive to the seed or mast of 

 the long-leaf pine, and the young seedlings are killed in large num- 

 bers by animals stripping off the thick, sweet, spongy bark from the 

 roots. 



Damage by insects: Leaf and inner bark-eating, twig-cutting, 

 bark and wood-boring insects. Methods of checking spread of insect 

 infestation by right methods of cutting. 



Fungi in forest trees as a source of the dying and injury of many 

 trees. Some trees more immune than others. Importance of keeping 



