8 FOREST PROTECTION 



Par. 2. Protection Against Forest Fires. 



Protection against forest fires means, practically, protection against 

 man who, intentionally or carelessly, causes the very large majority of all 

 forest fires. Fires due to lightning are of rare occurrence in the East. 



A: Causes of Fires: 



I: — Fires are intentionally set: — 



To improve pasture. 



To uncover minerals for prospecting. 



To gather chestnuts. 



To force the owner of woodlands to purchase interior holdings. 



To chase deer or turkeys. 



To drive bees or coons from trees. 



To improve the huckleberry crop. 



To facilitate access to thick woods. 



To get a job at stopping fires. 



To surround farms, pastures or forests with a safety belt of burned 

 land. 



To mask trespass by fishing and hunting. 



To take revenge for supposed acts of animosity. 

 II: — Fires carelessly started result from: — 



Locomotive sparks and cinders. 



Sparks from forest cabins. 



Campers' and hunters' fires. 



Charcoal burning, rock blasting, tobacco smoking, burning ad- 

 joining fields or pastures. 



B: Kinds of Forest Fires: 



Fires are distinguished as: — 

 Surface fires. 

 Underground fires. 

 Top fires. 



C; Damage by Fires: 



The damage done by forest fires consists of the loss of present values 

 or of the loss of prospective values; seedlings are killed; saplings burst open; 

 stool shoots replace seedling growth. 



A heavy growth of weeds, frequently following in the wake of forest 

 fires, prevents natural or artificial regeneration. A deterioration of pro- 

 ductiveness is the natural consequence of deteriorated soil, due to destruc- 

 tion of humus. 



Trees weakened by fires cease to resist the attacks of insects and fungi. 

 Trees burned at the stump are subject to breakage by sleet or snow. 



