14 



The Forests op Maryland. 



as in most cases to bear little resemblance to its original condition. 

 This alteration has been brought about chiefly through four agencies — . 

 injudicious cutting, fires, grazing, and tree diseases. All are suscepti 

 ble of prevention or control. 



In judicious Gutting: For generations a process of culling the 

 forests for the best material in them has been going on without inter- 

 ruption, the only forests that have escaped this destructive influence 

 being those which were so inaccessible as to render lumbering them 

 unprofitable at the time. The forests have not only been culled once, 

 but some of them four or five times, and each culling has left them in 

 worse condition than before. At first only the choicest material was 

 removed and an abundant forest cover left, but with each culling the 

 forests have constantly deteriorated, until in many cases the ground 

 is encumbered with inferior species and worthless material that 

 effectively prevent a more valuable growth. To restore normal condi- 

 tions the process must be reversed. That is, instead of taking out the 

 most valuable trees, the inferior species should be removed first, and 

 the former left to reproduce the forest. 



There has also been a large amount of unnecessary waste in the 

 removal of timber. Not only has an immense quantity of young 

 growth been unnecessarily destroyed, due to careless methods, but a 

 study of the subject has shown that about half of the usable part of 

 the tree is either left in the woods or wasted in sawing. Not only is 

 there a large amount of unnecessary waste, which improved methods 

 would find it profitable to use, but this large amount of debris left in 

 the woods adds immeasurably to the fire risk. Records show that 

 forest fires almost invariably follow lumbering operations. 



Fires: The forest fire damage in Maryland for the past five years, 

 from State information, is as follows : 



Year. Amount of Damage. 



1911 $225,801 



1912 48,212 



1913 42,443 



1914 129,844 



1915... 108,966 



Even this, however, is not the full measure of damage, since the 

 estimate includes only the timber and trees destroyed, and none of 

 the incidental losses that often amount to more than that. The fire 

 damage has been greatest in the mountain sections, where there are 

 large continuous areas of woodland which become exceedingly dry 

 during certain seasons of the year. This mountain land is rough and 



