48 
FORESTS OF WISCONSIN. 
that not only 5 cents but even 50 cents per M. feet could prof¬ 
itably have been devoted to the suppression of fire. 
Changes on Cut-Over Lands .—The condition and character 
of the aftergrowth on cut-over lands is quite variable, since 
changes occur in the plant cover as well as in soil conditions ac¬ 
cording to original condition and subsequent treatment. These 
conditions and changes have a bearing on the question of the 
future of these lands, whether they be left alone or be restocked 
with timber,, so that it appears desirable to give a description at 
least of the more frequent types. 
Sand Pinery Lands. —1. When a clean dense stand of ma¬ 
ture pine timber is cut, and the fire gets into the slashing late 
the following summer after all the limbs and tops on the ground 
have had a chance to dry, the ground is fairly cleared by the 
fire, the bulk of the tops are burned, a “stump prairie” remains. 
On the poor sandy soil whose small humus cover has been thus 
destroyed, there comes first a crop of fire weeds, then aspen and 
sweet fern, with other weeds, and some grass and isolated 
bushy scrub oaks (often some willows) cover the ground 
sparsely. As soon as enough dry leaves and other material have 
accumulated the fire recurs and the small aspen and other growth 
are killed. By this time the ground is much reduced in fertility, 
aspen is slower to return and the ground is largely taken by 
weeds and grass. A few repetitions of fire change the ground 
sufficiently to prevent the further growth of aspen for years 
and there are many areas where this tree has given up all effort 
to restock the land. 
This seems to be the common form of slashing in heavy pine. 
Such areas furnish little foliage for live Stock, they are naturally 
poor, and this condition is much aggravated by repeated fires 
and exposure to wind and sun. To an attempt at restocking 
with timber they offer no obstacle, save their poverty, which 
would soon be changed by growing timber. 
If the fire is not repeated in such a slashing the aspen forms 
dense thickets in which pine, birch, and maple gradually find 
suitable conditions for their growth. Bor years the detrimental 
