98 



FOKEST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



quiring that persons burning brusli in the dry season shall obtain a 

 permit from the fire warden, is in force in several States and is work- 

 ing well. 



PROTECTION FROM STOCK. 



The forests of ISTorth Carolina have suffered very severely from the 

 indiscriminate ranging of stock. In the eastern part of the State, the 

 reproduction of long leaf pine over vast areas has been largely pre- 

 vented by hogs. Even in the hardwoods in the western part of the 

 State, serious damage has been done, and is still being done by both 

 cattle and hogs. The injury from stock varies according to the age 

 and condition of the forest. The most serious injury is done during 

 the first few years after lumbering, when young growth is starting. 

 Cattle are extremely fond of linn sprouts, and will effectively prevent 

 the reproduction of this species after lumbering. They also browse 

 on the young poplar, and, if numerous, will break and bite off the 

 shoots of many other species. Hogs eat large quantities of chestnut, 

 oak, and hickory seed, and may often prevent seedling reproduction of 

 these trees. Both hogs and cattle should always be excluded from cut 

 over lands and from areas of second growth until the trees are too 

 large to be injured. In a fully stocked second growth forest, or in 

 mature timber where reproduction is not yet desired, the injury done 

 by stock is not great. 



The most serious injury from stock has been an indirect one. The 

 practice of burning the woods for the improvement of the cattle range, 

 has been brought down from the time of earliest settlement. Long ago, 

 when there was little cleared land, there was some excuse for this prac- 

 tice, but conditions have changed; there is now more than enough land 

 cleared and subsequently abandoned to wild growth to furnish pas- 

 turage to all stock; and the introduction of Japan clover within the 

 last fifteen or twenty years has turned these old fields into rich pas- 

 tures. Many people, not realizing the change which the introduction 

 of this plant has brought in the cattle industry, still continue to burn 

 the woods, to the incalculable damage of the forests. It was estimated 

 that in one of the counties of this region, for every head of cattle 

 which ranges the woods, 67 acres of forest land are burnt over every 

 year, and that young growth to half of the value of these cattle, is 

 being destroyed by fire each year. 



The people of I^orth Carolina have a remedy and they are grad- 

 ually applying it. The stock law is a local option measure, and any 

 county, township, or district can, by a majority vote, make it effective. 

 It is now enforced over five entire counties in this region, and over 



