Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-15

E/EA&&eS4aLA question. 81 doubt
StSX3SkN9fsfNtT it," he said. "Yet
>ANNHHIn-- such catastrophes are
preventable, IL only
laws were made pro-
SsNAefN SH~1 viding for proper su-
.9>s<s~~- - pervis,on and control
Of the wooded lands of the country.
you must remember that the loss by
fire. great as 1t is. is insignificant in COM
parison with the damage done to the SOIL
To create a mold one foot deep requires
from three to five centuries. In a few
hours it is burned up and the land is rendered
unavailable for agriculture. 1t is roughly
reckoned that every year in the United
States fifteen million acres of forest are
swept by flames. involving immediate
loss of $35.0OO.OOO By these disasters the
economic development of entire regions is
retarded and jeopardized. Respecting the
influence of fire on subsequent forest
growth, / will refer you to an eminent au-
thority on this subject, Professor Sargent.
If a forest is destroyed by fire, all the trees,
old and young, giants ready for the ak and
terminating seedlings-the embryo forests
of succeeding centuries-are swept away.
The underground needed to protect the very
young trees. the roots of perennial heritage,
and the seeds of all plants are consumed.
The ability of the burned soil to produce
again a crop of trees similar to the one de-
stroyed is lost. and the subsequent recover
ing of burned land with the species of the
original forest is accomplished. IL accom-
plished at all, through the restoration of
fertility following the slow growth and de-
cay of many generations of less valuable
plants.
THE pine and spruce forest. when de-
stroyed by fire. is succeeded by growth of
brambleS in time replaced by dwarf birch
poplar and bird cherries, of no economic
value. Scrub oaks follow these, and the
pine rarely reappears. In regions that are
continually burned over and covered again
with forests, as in parts of Kentucky and
Tennessee valuable species like the white
OAK end yellow poplar are scarce or en-
ti-ely wanting in the new growth. Profess
SCR Sargent calls attention to the fact that
the forests of the Northern Pacific coast Of
Ter an exception to the law, otherwise gen.
~ ch~7@e NJ forest crop follows a
forest fire. The fir forests of west Wash
ihston ana Oregon. when destroyed by nre
are quickly replaced by a vigorous growth
or the same species, and the fires which
nave consumed great bodies of the Califor-
MA redwood have not prevented the repro
duction of those trees by seeds and shoots
Causes of Forest Fires.
Investigations made by the Departmsn.
of Agriculture appear to show that most
fires of this kind are caused by farmers
who. in clearing land, allow the fire TO
escape into the forest. Careless hunters
come next in degree of responsibility for
such disasters. They leave fires burning in
abandoned camps, because they do not care
10 take the trouble TO put them out. Rail-
ways, OF course, are accountable for the
destruction of great areas of forest an
nuauy. They should be compelled to use
spark-arresters, and TO pay for the harm
they do In this way Forest fires are fire.
quentiy occasioned by no human agency
but by lightning, and it has been alleged
that they are sometimes caused by the
spontaneous combustion of decomposinx
pyrites. Forest fires and their effects may
De studied to the greatest advantage in that
great belt of coniferous trees which stretches
through the British possessions in the north
ern part OF this continent, 1900 miles from
the east coast of Labrador to the Rocky
mountains, continuing beyond to Alaska
This belt, averaging about 100 miles in
width, consists chiefly of spruce, tamarack
pine fir and cedar. The open spaces are
covered with reindeer MOSES, which In
summer are dry and infammable as
finder. The Indian hunter of that region,
knowing how destructive forest fires are to
the animals on which he depends for food
and furs. takes all possible care TO prevent
them. The country has not been invaded
TO any extent by white men, yet fire runs
through every part Of it at one period or
another. 1t is said that these fires are
caused by lightning usually.
The best authority on those great woods
OF the north Is Robert Bell of Ottawa He
asserts that fires are actually necessary for
the reproduction of some of the trees The
cones of the Banksian pines never open
unless they are scorched. But when fire
sweeps through the forest the cones of this
species cape, and the seeds which they con-
tain are scattered by the wind. 1t is this
kind of pine that first clothes areas that
have been reduced to nakedness by the
flames. Fire may be set in those northern
woods at a season when it will not run, but
it is astonishing how long 1t will smolder
in the deep moss and under logs and roots,
until, after weeks or perhaps months, a
dry time comes, and a favoring wind fans
1t into activity. The heaviest rains and the
SHOWS of whole winter sometimes fail TO
extinguish or smother these smoldering
fires. The trees newly killed by fire are
quickly attacked by boring beetles. which.
finding thus an ineXhaustibe supply of
food. swarm in the forests of that region,
the creaking noise of millions of their
larvae making an incessant chorus"
Cultivating Trees.
If left without interference by man, ma
ture would keep the entire earth covered
with forests, save only in a few localities.
There is excellent cause for believing that
the great central plains of the United
States were not always treeless. and that
their nakedness might once more be COW
cred by the adoption of proper means to
that end. The barrenness occasioned by
prairie fires and herds of trampling buffalo
may yet be made fruitful Once let woods
be spread over the now aria pralrleS or the
west, and there would be rain in plenty
there. A step preliminary should be the
establishment in that region of arboreta,
where experiments could be made for the
purpose of finding out what trees were best
adapted. But nothing effective can be ac-
complshed so long as the reckless ak, fire
and marauding animals are permitted to do
mischief unmpeded.
In the southern states, particularly, the
custom prevails of turning domestic animals
into the forest to pick up a precarious live
lihood. Sheep, cattle and horses devour i'm
mense numbers of Seeding trees, which
should represent the future forests of the
country. Hogs root up the young pines to
feed on the succulent roots. The thin-shelled
seeds of pines, white oaks, chestnuts and
beeches are eaten. Thus worthless black
oaks and other btter-fruted trees are sub
stituted in the woods for sweet-fruited and
valuable species
Prof. Sargent says that the forests in the
mountain regions are essential to prevent
destructive torrents and to maintain the
flow of the rivers. Their inaccessibility has
preserved them to some extent, but they are
being invaded by fire and the ak. This sig
nifies the ruin of great rivers for naviga-