22 BULLETIN 1496, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Although the actual figures for 1926 for the area burned over and 
the value of property destroyed are not available, it is known that 
because of an exceptionally favorable season there were practically 
no forest fires. An eight-year period is of course not fully con- 
clusive as to the effectiveness of the cost of such a fire-protective 
organization. The chief drawback is the necessity of protecting and 
fighting forest fires on land not owned by the members. In 1925 
one member of the association dropped out, and, since the area in 
need of fire protection remained the same, the cost had to be dis- 
tributed among a smaller number of members. 
This expenditure, aside from keeping the land productive, is also” 
somewhat in the nature of, although not strictly comparable to, fire 
insurance on standing timber, camps, and supplies. A forest tract 
of 124,600 acres represents in this region an investment of some 
$3,500,000, including camp and other equipment. The annual ex- 
penditure of $23,000 for fire protection may be considered equivalent 
to fire insurance at a rate of only 0.7 per cent. Considering that the 
average rate of fire insurance on sawmills is from 3 to 3.5 per cent 
and occasionally even as high as 7 per cent, the insurance on stand- 
ing timber at 0.7 per cent is obviously very low. 
In Wisconsin a pulp and paper company owning some 35,000 
acres of readily inflammable jack-pine land provides its own fire 
protection at a cost of from 10 to 15 cents per acre, including i1m- 
provements. During the period between 1911 and 1917, when no 
fire protection was provided, the company lost nearly 100,000 cords. 
From 1917, when fire protection went into effect, up to 1927 the 
entire loss was less than 500 cords. Like the Minnesota association, 
this pulp and paper company in order to protect itself from neighbor- 
ing fires, patrols an area much larger than that which it actually 
owns. If the other owners concerned cooperated with this company 
the actual cost per acre would be only about 8 cents per acre per 
year. 
Reasonably efficient fire protection, it is believed, may be obtained 
by private individuals through individual or cooperative efforts at 
about 3 cents per acre per year for a large continuous area under 
protection, a rather small expenditure considering the actual benefits 
derived. If the timberland is scattered, and the neighbors are 
unwilling to cooperate, the cost may be between 10 and 20 cents per 
acre for privately owned land—still not a prohibitive cost. The 
larger the area under patrol and the larger the number of neighbors 
who cooperate in the protection of their properties the smaller the 
cost. Since effective fire protection can therefore be bought, at so 
small a cost, the fact that State forest-fire protection is not yet as 
complete as is desired need not be a serious deterrent to keeping forest 
land productive. 
SLASH DISPOSAL—ITS EFFECTIVENESS AS A FOREST MEASURE 
It is now generally admitted that unless careful precautions are 
taken slash left on the ground after logging is a distinct menace to 
the remaining forest and second growth, especially in pine forests. 
Although only a small percentage of fires may originate in slashings, 
it is the general experience that sooner or later all slash is burned. 
