14 BULLETIN 1491, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE . 
Another serious but little realized effect of these fires is that they 
commonly kill back to the ground the young sprouts and seedlings 
a few inches to a few feet high, locally called " brush." Too com- 
monly this small brush is looked upon locally as valueless, as a 
detriment to the land, and as something which should be destroyed 
by fire. In consequence, it is burned periodically every few years 
when it begins to form a dense thicket. Although a big proportion 
of this brush will resprout, even a single burn sets it back several 
years on the road to merchantable size and a profitable return to 
the owner 50 to 100 years hence. Several burnings still further 
defer the possibility of a timber crop. The development of a local 
appreciation of the potential value of this young growth and the 
desirability of protecting it from fire is the outstanding timber 
problem of this part of the region. 
In the small isolated farm woods fire danger is practically negli- 
gible. Occasional small fires occur but these can not spread far and 
do little damage in the aggregate. Moreover, public sentiment in 
the region is opposed to fires on farm woodlands, and this is a most 
effective deterrent. 
FACTORS FAVORABLE TO CONTINUOUS FOREST CROPS 
TENDENCY OF THE REGION TOWARD NATURAL REFORESTATION 
The simplicity of the measures to be discussed later for keeping 
the forest land productive is not easily understood unless there is 
some recognition of the remarkable recuperative powers of the hard- 
wood forests. It truly seems that in the central hardwood region 
nature has provided against every possibility that might make for- 
est land nonproductive. 
Nearly all species sprout well from the stump if cut in the seed- 
ling or sapling stage, and in such instances a second crop is assured. 
Even after fires have killed the tops back to the ground, young- 
growth will sprout. The oaks and hickories are especially per- 
sistent sprouters after fire, and retain this vigorous sprouting capa- 
city to 40 or 50 years of age. This quality is particularly valuable 
in such bad fire regions as the Ozarks, the southern portions of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois, and on the highland rim of Tennessee and 
Kentucky, where oaks and hickories are the characteristic growth. 
Other good sprouters up to a stump diameter of 8 to 12 inches are 
silver maple, paper birch, river birch, ash, sycamore, and black 
willow. 
In addition to the sprouting capacity of all young growth, the 
seeding habits and ease of reproduction from seed of many of the 
species also make for continuously productive stands of timber. 
Consideration of some of these traits will serve to explain the com- 
position of many of the second-growth stands of the region. 
The ability of the maples and ashes, and even of elm in its youth, 
to grow in the shade enables these species to start under old stands 
and thus be in occupancy of the ground and ready to spring up 
quickly after the old timber is cut. The wide distribution of these 
species in the central hardwood region and the ease with which their 
seed can be disseminated is commonly making them, particularly the 
maples, a substantial component part of the young stands. 
