136 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



From locomotives without spark arresters or carelessly handled at the ash pit comes the 

 greatest danger in the East. To estimate even the direct loss or damage from this source is well- 

 nigh impossible, much less the indirect loss, which consists in the destruction of the forest floor, 

 the handing over of the ground to worthless brush, brambles, and inferior tree growth, or, as 

 happens in some regions, the burning of the soil down to the rock, leaving an irredeemable waste. 

 Thus the accumulation of centuries— it takes from three to Hvq centuries to make a humus soil 1 

 foot in depth — is destroyed in one brief season by carelessness. 



In the census of 1880 an attempt was made to ascertain the extent of the fires and the conse- 

 quent loss in money value. Upon unsatisfactory and partial returns a total of over 10,000,000 

 acres was reported burned, with a loss of over $25,000,000 in value. 



A canvass made by the Division of Forestry some years ago, which was highly unsatisfac- 

 tory in its returns, these being vague and reporting only very partially, shows that in the districts 

 reporting more than 12,000,000 acres of woodland were burned over during 1891. The report 

 showed log timber killed 473,387,000 feet B. M. and damage from forest fires to other than forest 

 property to the extent of $303,590, besides injury to valuable forest growth difficult to estima'e. 

 What proportion of the actual destruction these reports represent it is impossible to tell. They 

 show, however, that in spite of the growing sentiment against such useless waste the nuisance 

 has hardly abated in the last ten years. The loss from prairie fires to crops, tree growth, build- 

 ings, and other property was reported by the same correspondents at $1,633,525. 



In some years these losses by fire are, to be sure, much greater than in others, especially for 

 given localities. Thus the fire which raged around Green Bay, in Wisconsin, during the latter 

 part of September and beginning of October, 1871, is reported to have utterly devastated 400 

 square miles of territory, several villages being wiped out, at least 1,000 people perishing, and 

 3,000 being left destitute; the damage being estimated at $3,000,000, not including that of the 

 thriving village of Peshtigo, with 2,000 inhabitants. 



Another fire in Wisconsin (around Phillips) and in neighboring Minnesota, still in our memory, 

 occurred during the drought of July and August, 1894, the latter known as the great Hinckley 

 fire, when the estimate of loss of hie exceeded 1,000, although it is only known that 437 were 

 surely lost, while over 2,000 w r ere made homeless, the material loss, not including the timber, 

 being estimated at $750,000. 



Another most destructive fire occurred in 1881 in Michigan, when the fire ran over forty-eight 

 townships in the peninsula between Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, and a belt of timber country, 

 partly settled, 60 miles in length and 10 to 30 miles in width, comprising a round million acics, 

 was absolutely destroyed. The number of people killed was 138 and the value of property 

 destroyed $2,000,000, not taking into account the timber and the loss to the future, for this region 

 remains btill to a large extent a mere brush waste. 



In comparison with our figures of bona fide consumption the direct loss in material is but a 

 small matter, perhaps 2 to 3 per cent of the total value of forest products, but the indirect loss 

 can hardly be overestimated. This lies not only in the destruction of the fertility of the soil, but 

 in discouraging more conservative forest management on the part of forest owners, while the 

 constant risk fiom fire is an incentive to turn into cash as quickly as possible what is valuable in 

 the forest growth, leaving the balance to its fate. 



There is a crying need in the United States for economic reform in this matter of playing 

 with fire. If the fire nuisance could be reduced to the unavoidable proportion, half the forestry 

 problem would be solved. 



FOREST SUPPLIES. 



Having traced our consumption of forest supplies, it remains to consider the condition of the 

 resource from which this consumption is to be drawn. We have to distinguish here between 

 virgin supplies now ready for the ax — the standing timber— and new growth to supply future wants. 



Again w^e have, unfortunately, no statistics which would permit us to speak with assurance 

 on this question. As regards the coniferous supplies of standing timber we have already made 

 computations, showing that 100,000,000,000 feet for the North, 300,000,000,000 feet for the' South, 

 and less than 1,000,000,000,000 for the West, or altogether about 1,400,000,000,000 feet B. M., 

 would have to be considered an extravagant estimate to meet the estimated cut of this class of 

 materials of 30,000,000,000 feet per annum. 



