April 23 , 1910 .] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
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LAST YEAR’S FOREST FIRES. 
Fire played less havoc in the woodlands of 
the National Forest States last year than it did 
in 1908, although the number of fires was 410 
greater. The Department of Agriculture has 
just completed the statistics. The protective 
value of the work of the department is shown 
in that (1) almost 80 per cent, of the fires were 
extinguished before as much as five acres had 
been damaged; (2) less than one and one-half 
acres to the square mile of National Forest 
land was burned over; (3) and the amount of 
damage done to the burned-over area averaged 
but $1.26 per acre. 
For the twelvemonth ended Dec. 31 last, 
there were 3,138 fires on the forests, 1,186 
caused by locomotives, 431 by campers, 294 by 
lightning, 181 by brush burning, 97 by incen¬ 
diaries, 38 by saw mills and donkey engines, 153 
by miscellaneous and 758 by unknown agencies. 
The area burned over was, in round figures, 
360,000 acres, of which about 62,000 were private 
lands in National Forests, as against some 
400,000 acres in 1908. Some 170,000,000 board 
feet of timber was consumed, of which 33,- 
000,000 feet was privately owned, as against 
230,000,000 in the previous year. The loss in 
value of timber destroyed was less than $300,000, 
of which close to $50,000 was privately owned. 
The loss of the year before was about $450,000. 
Damage done to reproduction and forage shows 
a remarkable decrease, less than $160,000 being 
the record for 1909 and over $700,000 that for 
1908. 
The largest number of fires occurred in Idaho 
—991; but the great increase over 1908 in that 
State—namely, 573—is entirely attributed to 
fires in the Coeur d’Alene, which were ex¬ 
tinguished without material damage. Locomo¬ 
tive sparks were accountable for 611 of the 
blazes in this forest last year. The explanation 
of the increase in the total for all forests is 
to be found in this Coeur d’Alene increase. 
The report of the Forester for 1909 said of 
the fire record of 1908: “That year was one of 
prolonged drouth during the summer and fall, 
and of disastrous forest fires throughout the 
country. The National Forests suffered rela¬ 
tively little. * * * About 232,191,000 board 
feet of timber, or 0.06 per cent, of the stand, 
was destroyed. * * * A total of 2,728 fires 
was reported, of which 2,089 were small fires 
confined as a rule to an area of five acres or 
less. The cost of fire fighting, exclusive of the 
salaries of forest officers, was $73,283.33. This 
sum, added to the proportion of the total sal¬ 
aries of rangers and guards properly chargeable 
to patrol and fire fighting, was less than one- 
twentieth of one per cent, of the value of the 
timber protected, estimated at an average 
stumpage value of $2 ^er thousand.” 
HICKORY. 
In addition to the hickory which is made di¬ 
rectly into special forms there is manufactured 
in the United States each year about 200,000,000 
feet of hickory lumber, most of which is later 
re-manufactured. The total quantity of hickory 
cut in the United States each year is therefore 
equivalent to not less than 330,000,000 board 
feet. According to the reports of the Bureau of 
the Census, the average value of hickory lum¬ 
ber at the mill is about $30 per thousand, while 
the high-grade material which is necessary for 
special uses is worth at least $50 per thousand. 
This makes the total value at the mill of the 
annual hickory production not less than $12,- 
000,000. 
Hickory is one of our most useful woods, but 
it constitutes only about two to five per cent, 
of the total stand of timber in our hardwood 
forests. It is widely distributed throughout the 
eastern hardwood forests and was formerly most 
abundant and of unusually high quality in In¬ 
diana and Ohio. The supply in these States, 
however, has been greatly reduced by cutting, 
so that at present Arkansas is distinctly in the 
lead in hickory production, followed by Tennes¬ 
see, and then by Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. 
A bent pin, a 
bit of string and 
a stick don’t ap¬ 
peal as they did 
in our boyhood 
days. Write to 
Philadelphia’s 
Sporting Goods 
Headquarters 
for catalog “ F ” if you’re going fish¬ 
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catching anything from-minnow bait 
to sword fish. 
SHANNON 
816 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 
rbpid-shwe: 
POWDER 
Face 
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Trial Package for 4 cents 
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Dept. 46, 55 John St. 
NEW YORK 
The Means 
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that 
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the 
Shave 
Just sprinkle 
the 
wet brush— 
lather 
your face * 
TAMP 
LAMP 
A new 14 -candle-power lamp for 
sportsmen. Generates and burns 
acetylene gas. Projects a bright light 
1 50 feet. Carbide and water are all 
you need. Tablespoonful of Carbide 
lasts three hours. Lamp prepared for 
use in ten seconds. No grease, no 
smoke, no glass to break. Will not 
blow out. 
Absolutely Safe 
* Weighs five ounces filled. In camp, 
in the woods, on the water—the 
one best light for every purpose. 
Every lamp guaranteed. For 
\ sale at sporting-goods and 
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Worn Bv mail if your dealer 
on cap or % hasn’t them. Send 
belt, both hands Ik his name, 
are free with gun,\, s Booklet will be 
knife or fishing Ifc,, 
rod. Hang it up v 
in your tent. Fasten — 
t on the bow of Y,. 
your canoe or launch 
John Simmons Co. 
11 Franklin St. New 
mailed free 
on request. 
York 
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Camp-Fires of the Wilderness. 
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