st recurring fires in these cut-over
areas is a thrifty young second growth. It shades the ground, keeps
out annual vegetation that furnishes fuel when dead, and will itself
carry none but such furious crown-fires as would be practically
unknown were there no openings for them to gain headway in. This
is less true of pine, but the very best protection which can be
given a tract of merchantable fir is a strip of 10 to 50-year second
growth surrounding it.

Whether regarded from the owner's standpoint or that of the public,
reforestation should be considered as a protective measure of extreme
importance. Actual expenditure to obtain it may easily be profitable
for this reason alone, for once established it will decrease the
cost of patrol thereafter. Were all cut-over land in the Northwest
immediately restocked, the fire hazard would be enormously reduced.

CHAPTER V

FORESTRY AND THE FARMER

CUTTING METHODS

If there is anyone for whom the practice of forestry is practical
and profitable, it is the farmer who owns the timber he uses for
fuel or other purposes. His supply of the most suitable material
is almost always limited and in any case his method of using it
is practically certain to influence his permanent labor expenses.
Nevertheless, especially in well-timbered regions, cutting is apt
to be with but two considerations--the quickest clearing of land or
the easiest immediate fulfillment of some need for tree products--and
the passage of a few years brings realization that this early
thoughtlessness must be paid for at a high price.

In the first place almost all timber of a commercial species has
real and increasing value. If it is young, this value is increasing
doubly because of growth. Varying greatly, of course, young timber
in the Pacific Northwest very often adds from 500 to 1,000 board
feet to the acre annually. This annual gain is taking place even
if the timber has not reached merchantable size, being like coin
deposited in a toy bank which does not open until full. And this
is true whether the ultimate use may be for fuel, poles, or salable
material like tie or saw timber.

Too much land is cleared of young growth, merely because such clearing
is easy, which is of such low value for tilling or even pasture that
its use for these purposes does not pay as well in the long run
as would its use for growing timber, especially when the investment
of clearing is considered. The resulting expanse