The San Francisco call., 1895-12-22

the same as that of every square mile of
forest on this continent. Bradford, the
second Governor OF Plymouth colony. in
his history of the Pilgrims, describing
their landing from the Mayfower Novem
Der IL, 1920, says: 1.-The crust of the earth
spit's depth was excellent black earth,
all wooded with pines, oaks, sassafras,
juniper, birch, holly, vines, some ash
walnut, and the woods for the most part
open and without underwood, fit to go and
ride in"
Again, describing the expedition OF
Miles Standish to Pokanoket, Bradford
says: There is much good timber, oak,
walnut, fir, beech and exceedingly great
chestnut trees; and though the country be
trees stand not thick, but man may we'll
ride horse amongst them"
How the primeval forest came into the
condition described by Bradford is told by
contemporary writer's who noted the prac-
tice of the Indians. Morton's "New Eng
lish Canaan" published in 1852 from OBJ
servations made in 1925, says:
The savages are accustomed to set fire
to the country in all places where they are
and to burn it twice year, viz: at the
spring and fall OF the leaf. The reason
that moves them to do this so is because it
would otherwise be so overgrown with
underweeds that it would be all coppice
wood and the people would not be able in
any wise to pass through the country out
of a beaten path. This custom of firing
the country is the means to make it possi-
bic, and by that means the trees grow here
and there, as IN our parks, and it makes
the country very beautiful ana commo-
dious."
Woods New England Prospects" writ
ten from the authors observations in 1888,
SAYS:
Whereas it is generally conceived that
the woods grow so thick that there is no
more clear ground than is hewed out by the
labor of men; it is nothing so; in many
places divers acres being clear so one may
ride hunting in most places of the land.
There is no underwood, saving in swamps
and low grounds, for it being the custom
OF the Indians to burn the woods in No
vem Der, when the grass is withered and
leaves dried it consumes all the under
wood and rubbish which otherwise would
overgrow the country, making it impassa-
BILE and spoil their much-affected hunting.
So that by this means in these places
where the Indians inhabit there is scarce a
bush or bramble or any umbersome un-
derwood to be seem"
Joaquin Miller, in q paper read before
the American Forestry Congress in 1887,
said:
"ItIwas my fate to spend my boyhood
among the Indians. They were the only
true foresters l ever knew. In the spring,
after the leaves and grasses had served
their time and season in holding back the
floods and warming and nourishing the
earth, then would the old squaws begin
to look about for little dry spots of head
land of sunny valley, and as fast as drv
spots appeared they would be burned In
this way the fire was always under control
In this way the fire was always the SER
want, never the master. And by the tim G
the floods came again then there was an
other coat of grass and leaves, stronger
and better than the one before because of
the temperate use of fire by the careful and
wise old women. By this means the In
dians always kept their forests open, pure
and fruitful and confagrations were un-
known"
DR.. Bunnell, one of the discoverers of