142 
Modern Business Geography 
of wood is used for this purpose? Could wood for this same use be im- 
ported from Alaska? 
Man's respect for trees is rising. The early settlers in the United States 
destroyed trees as if they were weeds. Explain why such destruc- 
tion was not wrong then, but is wrong today. 
Why is it unwise to place a high tax on land covered with standing timber 
and a low tax on the land from which trees have been cut? 
A 
The protection of forests from fire. 
At the present rate of use our forests will be exhausted in the next fifty 
years. The best three fifths of our timber is now gone. Three fourths 
of what is left is privately owned, and of this only about four per cent is 
scientifically cared for. We cannot greatly increase our imports; 
therefore we must reduce our waste and increase our annual growth of 
timber. One of the great wastes of wood is in forest fires, which cause 
a yearly loss of more than fifty million dollars. It is estimated that 
the forest fires occurring during a-period of six years were due to the 
following causes : 
(a) Sparks from locomotives . . 26.7 per cent 
(b) Lightning . . . . . . . 17.5 per cent 
(c) Carelessness of campers . . . . . 16.9 per cent 
(d) Spontaneous combustion in brush piles 4.8 per cent 
(e) Deliberate purpose . . . . . 4.5 per cent 
(() Sparks from sawmills . . . . 1.1 per cent 
(9) Unknown causes 28.5 per cent 
Which of these causes could be eliminated by making and enforcing proper 
laws? 
Suggest rules that might be made to check the loss from locomotive 
sparks. 
What can we do to check the fire damage caused by careless campers? 
Explain the proper method of extinguishing a camp fire. 
What uses might be made of the wasted brush piles? 
Sawmills should be compelled to put “ spark arresters” in their smoke 
stacks. Why is it a short-sighted policy for lumbermen to refuse to bear 
this extra expense? 
Suppose that a man sets a forest fire. Explain at least four ways in which 
his action may cause damage to the country. 
D. The protection of forests from poor methods of cutting. 
1. Why is it unwise to cut all the trees in a wood lot at one time? 
2. Why does it waste wood to cut it in winter at the snow level ? 
If stumps are left with level tops, standing rainwater soon causes decay, 
and decayed wood furnishes breeding places for insects. How may these 
insects cause damage ?