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.