OUR FORESTS 25 



less other things that give us comfort ; that watershed protection has 

 been impaired; and that just so many more acres of forest play- 

 grounds have been taken from us. Is it not therefore the duty of 

 every good citizen to be careful of fire when in the woods ? 

 Six simple rules to prevent fires in the woods are : 



1. Matches. — Be sure your match is out. Break it in two before 

 you throw it away. 



2. Tobacco. — Be sure that pipe ashes and cigar or cigarette stubs 

 are dead before throwing them away. Never throw them into brush, 

 leaves, or needles. 



3. Making a Campfire. — Before building a campfire scrape away 

 all inflammable material from a spot 10 feet in diameter. Dig a 

 hole in the center and in it build your fire. Keep your fire small. 

 Never build it against trees or logs, or near brush.. 



4. Breaking Camp. — Never break camp until your fire is out — 

 dead out — cold. 



5. How To Put Out a Campfire.— Stir the coals while soaking them 

 with water. Turn charred sticks and drench both sides. Wet the 

 ground around the fire. Be sure the last spark is dead. 



6. Brush Burning. — Get a burning permit from the ranger or 

 fire warden if your State law requires it. Have plenty of help and 

 fire-fighting tools handy. Never burn slash or grass or brush in 

 windy weather, or while there is the slightest danger that the fire 

 will get away. 



Insects 



Insects are constantly injuring the forest, just as year by year they 

 bring loss to the farm. Occasionally their ravages attain enormous 

 proportions. Conifers are much more likely to suffer seriously from 

 the attacks of insects than are broadleaf trees. This is especially true 

 of some of the pines of the West and South which have been greatly 

 damaged by bark beetles. The western pine beetle is to be found in 

 the ponderosa-pine forests of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast 

 States. It generally attacks the trees in swarms and burrows into the 

 living bark. The female insects excavate galleries in the inner layer 

 of bark and deposit their eggs. After the eggs hatch, the larvae in 

 turn bore their way through the bark until they have completed their 

 growth. Their galleries serve to cut off the natural movement of the 

 sap and kill the trees by completely girdling them. The larvae then 

 bore into the outer corky bark, where they make little cells in which 

 they are transformed, first to the pupa and later to the adult stage. 

 The adults work their way out through the bark and fly in swarms 

 to living trees, there to continue their depredations. The southern pine 

 beetle, closely related to the western pine beetle, works in much the 

 same way. It attacks and kills pines of all species occurring within its 

 range, which includes the Southeastern and Gulf States. 



Another extremely bad example of insect attack is that of the gipsy 

 moth, which many years ago became established in New England. 

 It attacks the oaks and several other broadleaf trees and destroys mixed 

 woodlands if not checked. The tent caterpillars, the spruce budworm, 

 pine tipmoth, and various borers are other insects that cause losses 

 to the forests. 



