CHAPTER VIII 
HOW THE FOREST IS GUARDED 
Forests like any other communities are subject ty 
attacks which cause their numbers to decrease, and the 
forester like the health commissioner in any city must 
be on guard to prevent any unnecessary deaths in the 
forest community. 
During youth when each tree is struggling against 
its neighbors for light and plant food, the mortality 
is rather high, but this may be considered an ordinary 
condition as usually more trees start to grow than the 
land can support. In addition to these heavy losses 
during the early years, forests may be attacked from 
time to time by a variety of injurious agencies which, 
while not always preventable are rather abnormal. The 
most common of these agencies are fire, insects, fungi, 
wind, ice and snow. Of all these enemies fire by alk 
odds causes the most damage. 
Fire Fighting.—When it is realized that since the set- 
tlement of this country more timber has been cut and 
burned than is now standing, some idea of the forest 
products consumed may be gained, and it is safe to say 
that as much has been burned as has been used. The 
loss due to forest fires has been estimated by the United 
States Forest Service as $50,000,000 per year. The pity 
of it is that at least seventy per cent of this enormous 
loss is caused by fires that are preventable. 
Forest fires are not entirely a product of the white 
man’s civilization, for investigations In the West have 
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