THE NAVAL STORE IXDUSTKY IX NORTH CAROLINA. 



91 



All of these fires took place in the spring, either in March or 

 April, and all were reported as started from the firing of the grass 

 of the pine barrens. The first two fires were particularly severe, 

 going through orchards that were being worked, and ruining not 

 only the boxes, but also killing a great deal of the timber, very 

 little of which was so situated that it could be converted into lum- 

 ber before being attacked by the borers. 



In the fall of 1892 there was another severe fire in Richmond 

 and Moore counties, which destroyed a large amount of timber, 

 and also the village of AVest End, on the Aberdeen & West End 

 Railroad. The value of the timber alone destroyed by this fire was 

 placed at $75,000. 



The danger and loss occasioned by fires in the forests is not suffi- 

 ciently understood by the class of persons who are generally the 

 cause of them. In the pine barrens most of the fires are purposely 

 started, and the persons starting them should be held responsible 

 for any loss caused by them. Too great discretion cannot be exer- 

 cised about a suitable time to burn the woods, when it is deemed 

 absolutely necessary to burn them, and persons should be careful 

 that it is not too late in the season: after the trees have begun to 

 put forth their leaves or shoots, and that the season is not too dry. 

 Much care should be taken to prevent such fires escaping proper 

 bounds and destroying the property of other persons who are in 

 no way connected with the starting of the fire. 



The damage of fires is more than local and the loss occasioned 

 by them, or resulting from them, is felt far beyond the immediate 

 district in which they occur. Even when there is no apparent 

 damage it sets a precedent, the following of wdiich is sure ulti- 

 mately to lead to great damage. And there is always a consid- 

 erable amount of damage done ; enough to far more than counter- 

 balance the advantages supposed to be gained in improving the 

 pasturage of the forests or in other ways. 



The illustration (Plate I) facing page 58 is from a photograph 

 of a long-leaf pine forest a few miles w^est of Southern Pines, 

 Moore county, taken some months after a forest fire had swept 

 through this region. All of the pines at this point w^ere killed. 

 Many of them fell and were partially or completely destroyed, and 



