Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-06
Some Facts Worth Considering

There is an impression in the
minds of many of our landowners
That burning off the woodland areas
devoted to pastures is a desirable
practice. This is a most erroneous
conclusion and one which has cost
our farmers millions of dollars in
the aggregate. The litter of the
woodland is essential to it's protec-
tion and maintenance. The fire not
only destroys the nitrogen contained
III the leaves and other fallen vege-
1aple matter, but it Injuries the
young seedlings and literally de-
stroys thousands of them. Thus ma
lures attempt to recover the land
10 postponed from year to year, ero-
sion sets in, and the finest and rich
est part of the soil is often washed
away and unsightly gullies are Gre
ated.
, Georgia should be one of the
greatest of the live stock states, and
tnls can be accomplished, as pointed
out by Prof. L. r. Smith, if we
would only eliminate the practice of
burning over our stock ranges. The
reasons why this plan of action
should be instituted are succinctly
! set forth in the following statement.
These suggestions emanate from Il
man who has had wide and extern.
sive experience in the forest service
and who has had a chance to oh.
serve conditions in all parts of the
country. They may not be just in
accord with our own ideas, but they
represent the findings of our gov
IN RI e ncf
service work. They are worthy of
our most earnest and careful con.
sideration.
There is no reason why Georgia
should not become one of the inn
portant stock-raising states of the
Union and the most logical step in
bringing this about is the abandon.
ment of the practice of burning over
our stock ranges. Among the rea-
sons given for the burning over of
the forest and pasture lands, some
or the more common ones are ~
to improve the range, (2) to destroy
cattle ticks, and ~ to prevent ma
laria.
But, authorities tell us and in.
vestigations and experiments have
fproven that forest fires at all times
or the year injure the stock range
by destroying the seeds of the an
nual grasses, weakening the rooted
grasses and impoverishing the soil.
Grass and other herbaceous forage
growth appear better where they
grow up on ground that has been
newly burned over. However, this
green growth is actually thinner
than it would have been with tho
old, dead growth left on the ground,
1t shows up more plentiful because
it is uncovered.
Every owner Of stock realizes that
fall fire after the growing season
is over means he must find new
unburned range, begin to feed
earlier than usual, or let the stock
starve. Fall burning is the same
as burning so much hay. The an
nual plants are killed outright and
the seed destroyed for the coming
year. The effect of the fire on the
perennial or rooted grasses is to
stunt their growth and to give the
less desirable species, as broom
sedge. an advantage over the others
A bad fire may even heat the roots
OF a perennial plant enough to kill
it outright. Furthermore, a fire
destroys the humus, made up of the
dead and decaying leaves and twigs,
taking away from the soil the nee
essary vegetable matter. 1t is I'M
reasonable to expect forage crops to
thrive when the soil has been in
jured and deprived Of the essential
vegetable matter.
Spring burning is just as detri-
mental. OF course. the young grass
shows up nice and green, but only
because there is nothing to hide it.
Moreover, the new grass is far more
subject to damage by late frost
than are the new shoots coming up
under the cover of the old, dead
grass on an -unburned area. Fur
thermore, the new, tender grass
alone fails to make a balanced ra-
ton and cattle will frequently
"scorr" on it. On an unburned
range the stock can obtain a cer-
tain amount of roughage in the
form of dead grass.
A fire cannot eradicate the ticks.
/, In the winter time they are safely
buried in the soil, and in the sum-
mer large numbers are on the cattle
and consequently cannot be reached
by the fires. We have had fires
annually but previous to the prac-