FOREST FIRES. 



77 



kept better pace with eacli other. (See figs. 71, 72, and 

 PI. XL.) In many regions snow is so useful in protect- 

 ing the soil and the young trees that the harm it does 

 is quite overbalanced by its benefits. 



FOREST FIRES. 



Of all the foes which attack the woodlands of Xorth 

 America no other is so terrible as fire. Forest fires 

 spring from many differ- 

 ent causes. They are often 

 kindled along railroads by 

 sparks from the locomo- 

 tives. Carelessness is re- 

 sponsible for many fires. 

 Settlers and farmers clear- 

 ing land or burning grass 

 and brush often allow the 

 fire to escape into the 

 woods. (See fig. 73.) 

 Some one may drop a half- 

 burned match or the glow- 

 ing tobacco of a pipe or 



cigar, or 



hunter or 



Fig. 72.— A young Red Fir bent down by- 

 snow in early youth. It is scarred by 

 fire on the underside. Washington 

 Forest Reserve. 



prospector may neglect to 



extinguish his camp fire, 



or may build it where it 



will burrow into the thick 



duff far beyond his reach, 



to smolder for days, or weeks, and perhaps to break 



out as a destructive fire long after he is gone. Many 



fires are set for malice or revenge, and the forest is often 



burned over by huckleberry pickers to increase the next 



season's growth of berries, or by the owners of cattle 



or sheep to make better pasture for their herds. 



