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Fire
Nature Bulletin No. 51 Febraury 1, 1946
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Clayton F. Smith, President
Roberts Mann, Superintendent of Conservation
FIRE
Most people firmly believe the ancient notion that the prairies and
vacant lots should be burnt off "to make better grass." Many are doing
so now. Boys who have seen their parents and neighbors kindling fires
on vacant property frequently do likewise on the prairies. Recently
there have been four fires in the forest preserves which spread from
adjoining land.
Burning
does more harm than good. True, it gets rid of the old weed
stalks and dried grass of last year, so that new grass shows green more
quickly. But repeated burnings kill the good, nutritious grasses such as
bluegrass, timothy and clover. The wildflowers disappear. All food and
nesting cover for birds, rabbits and other wildlife is destroyed, just
when they need it most. Thistles thrive. Only tough grasses of little
value for pasture or hay, such as crabgrass and quackgrass, and the
weeds survive.
Fire
kills young trees and frequently so scars the trunks of the older
trees that disease and insects can enter, eventually destroying them. Fire
consumes the fallen-leaves, twigs and other vegetable matter which, if
allowed to decay, provide necessary natural fertilizer for a healthy
woods. FIRE IS THE ENEMY OF FIELD AND FOREST.
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Update: June 2012
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