USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1900-1902 > Part 20
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NEW BRIDGE AT BILL HOLMES'S DAM.
Much progress was made by Mr. Morton in the construc- tion of the new bridge referred to in the last annual report of the Park Commissioners. This work has been carried so far forward that the foundations are in position, and the side walls brought up above the surface of high water in the brook. A considerable quantity of stone has been collected for use in the completion of the bridge. So long as Mr. Morton remained with us, the cost of all this work was paid for by him, none of it being charged to the Park appro- priation. It was Mr. Morton's wish that the bridge should be completed by private subscription, and some funds have been received by the Commissioners for this purpose, viz .: Mr. Frank W. Brewer of Hingham, $25.00; The Peirce Bros. of South Africa. one guinea.
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The Commissioners have also received assurances from several other persons of a wish to assist in completing the work.
It is estimated that five hundred dollars will be required to complete the bridge. Of this amount one hundred has been subscribed, and the commissioners invite friends of the park to furnish the balance so that the bridge may be fin- ished during the coming summer.
BEACH PARK.
A tentative protection of timbers and brush was placed upon the Beach after the "big storm" of November, 1898, to hold in place, if possible, a part of the drifting sands. This purpose was accomplished to a considerable extent thereby, and it may be desirable to continue this work in the future.
The waiting room has been cared for, and many people avail themselves of the accommodations and attractions of this, the only "shore property" of the town of Plymouth.
BURTON PARK.
The trees and shrubs and scheme of planting adopted at this formerly unsightly spot continue to show the wisdom of the attempt to make "Jumping Hill" more attractive.
BATES PARK.
This Park remains in good condition, and has been prop- erly cared for during the year.
TRAINING GREEN.
Training Green has been a source of much pleasure dur- ing the year. The beautiful lawn effect was much en- hanced during the blooming season of the white clover.
It is with regret that the Commissioners refer to certain
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lawless acts which occurred during the summer. In this connection it may be stated that the Commissioners have purchased a stencil and marked the remaining settees in a conspicuous manner.
OTHER PUBLIC LANDS OF THE TOWN.
The Commissioners beg to call the attention of the in- habitants of the town to the fact that there are certain tracts of land owned by the town, such as that at "Obery" or "Aubrey" so-called. which they believe should be placed un- der the supervision of such outhorities as will administer them in a manner to benefit the whole town, rather than a small portion thereof, and the future as well as the present inhabitants. They have therefore requested the Select- men to insert an Article in the Warrant for the Town Meet- ing asking the Town to place such lands in charge of the Park Commissioners.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT, For Parks. DR.
Expenditures for labor and tools,
$1,135 02
CR.
Appropriation,
$750 00
Appropriation for deficiency,
22 16
Received for sale of wood,
291 61
Overdrawn,
71 25
$1,135 02
Respectfully submitted, WALTER H. SEARS, THOMAS R. WATSON, GEO. R. BRIGGS,
Park Commissioners.
REPORT OF THE FORESTER.
Balance to credit of account, January 1, 1902, $1,952 95
Appropriation,
1,000 00
$2,952 95
Bills paid during 1902, for :-
Labor,
$680 20
New wagon,
130 5I
Tools and equipment,
81 50
Repairs of Equipment,
16 75
Newspaper notices and printing,
21 50
Salaries, 200 00
Due from Tree Warden Account,
12 50
Balance to credit account, January
I, 1903. 1,809 99
$2,952 95
In my last report attention was called to the importance of establishing fire-belts, which can be used, often in con- nection with existing roads, as base lines in fighting fires.
Early in the year 1902, work was begun on such a belt, extending along "the water course," so-called, from the swamps south of Billington Sea to Little South Pond. This belt, in connection with Billington, the field and bog at "Small Gains," Little and Great South, Boot and Nigger ponds furnished. with less than a mile of trimming, a fire belt to a point five miles southwest of the town. From Nigger Pond to College Pond, about two miles, the belt fol- lows the road, but from the west side of College Pond a short lane over the land reaches a chain of ponds which are
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nearly continuous to the Carver line at the East Head Pond, whence there is a water course to Wareham.
Another belt was begun, to run from the Southwesterly cove of South Pond to Federal Pond in Carver, utilizing Widgeon, Clew and Rocky ponds as links in the chain. This belt was under construction on May 9th, when a fire started on its northerly side, in Carver, and, driven by a westerly gale. burned over the scrub oak land with great rapidity. The partially cleared belt was no impediment to such a fire, -indeed live sparks were blown across Clew Pond, a dis- tance of several hundred yards, setting fire to the woods be- yond.
The new belt south of Nigger Pond was more effective, and on this belt and the connecting ponds the fire was stopped. Hard work by Fire Ward St. George and his men saved the cottages on the west side of South Pond, a work in which the equipment of the wagon under his charge was invaluable. The following day a small force of men, in charge of Fire Wards Samuel Bradford and Stillman R. Sampson did especially good work in holding the northerly side line of the fire on a narrrow road, west of Grassy Hole, among thick pines.
This fire was in many respects similar to the great fire of Sept., 1900, but the area burned was not nearly so great and a larger proportion was scrub oak land; moreover the only building burned was a small stable or shed.
During the year there were several fires along the line of the Middleboro railroad, but these were quickly extinguished, by the men at Darby.
A fire in the north part of the town is mentioned, only be- cause it was put out by Fire Ward N. L. Savery with the aid of his equipment of extinguishers. Mr. Savery could find no one to help him and he is positive that it would have been impossible for him to control the fire without the extinguishers.
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On April 4th at Cedarville, at a fire along the Bourne line, Fire Ward A. M. Haskell reports his extinguishers as es- pecially effective.
On July 18th a fire started by the side of a road not much used (undoubtedly set by the carelessness of some one of a party of fishermen who drove over this road a short time before the discovery of the fire) at a point about one-half mile south of Halfway Pond. A strong southwest wind was blowing and before the fire was discovered it was burning fiercely and had nearly reached the road at the foot of the ponds. Undoubtedly the fire would have crossed the road had not Fire Ward Edson Raymond arrived with an extin- guisher in "the nick of time." Crouching in the road below the stifling smoke and under flame which scorched the oak leaves on the opposite side of the road, h'e used the charge of his extinguisher so effectively that the head fire was checked on the road; the subjugation of the rest was com- paratively easy. The bills for this fire, starting under con- ditions favorable for a big fire, were only $7.30, showing the value of quick action with the proper tools.
The great area of woodland which comprises the larger part of our big township, with its many ponds or lakes, is a great attraction to many people; nor is it difficult to find the reason. Where else within a reasonable distance of Boston can any such tract of land be found ! Poor and deso- late many acres may be, but even these great open stretches emphasize the feeling of remoteness from the ordinary cares of life which is so essential for rest to the busy city worker. And yet an hour by rail and an hour's drive will bring him to the heart of this great resting place. There are many beautiful spots among all this land,-now and then a bunch of pine trees which have a considerable money value-but the threat of fire hangs over them all, fire which originates mostly from gross carelessness and often finds fuel for quick development on woodlots strewn with brush which has been carelessly left by the owner.
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Our first duty is to reduce the danger of fire to a mini- mum and it is probable that care and ingenuity, guided by experience and backed by the necessary funds, which our voters seem ready to supply, will develop a system which shall not only reduce the number of fires but succeed in checking those which may occur before they gain dangerous proportions. What has been done elsewhere may be done here if we devise methods appropriate to our surroundings. The following passage from Bruncken's North American Forests and Forestry is interesting in this connection :-
"In the cultivated forests of Europe fires are rare events and, if they do break out, cause comparatively little damage. In British India, forest fires used to be as destructive as they are in North America. But since the government has taken the work of rational forest management in hand, they have practically ceased in all districts to which the work of the forester has extended."
In "Practical Forestry" by John Gifford, recently pub- lished, the following passages occur : "Fires may be pre- vented by patrols during the dangerous season, by the con- struction of fire lanes, and by the removal of combustible ma- terials, such as slash and litter, from the surface of the soil.
"For the prevention of fires, the punishment of fire-setters and the construction of wide fire-lanes along all public wagon roads and railroads are necessary. In this way, what are now points of danger. from which the ma- jority of fires start, would become means for the prevention of its spread, and would serve at the same time as vantage- points in combatting it. Whenever possible these fire- lanes should be kept under cultivation, in other places the brush should be cut and all combustible materials burned at a time when there is no danger of setting fire to the adjoin- ing woods." ."It is generally recognized in Eu- rope that the construction of suitable fire-lanes throughout the forest conduces more to the prevention of great confla-
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grations than any other institution. These serve as vantage- points in the fighting of fire, and often in themselves are sufficient to prevent its spread. By means of fire-lanes the country is cut into parcels, and the damage of great con- flagrations very materially reduced."
On this subject Bruncken says :-
"One not familiar with the ways of forest fires is likely to be surprised at the idea that comparatively narrow roads and lanes can check conflagrations which, at other times, destroy whole forests and villages. But they must remem- ber that by far the greatest number of forest fires are not so- called top-fires, which envelop large trees with flame and spread from crown to crown. They are generally surface fires, that merely consume the dry litter, dead branches, with- ered grass and such stuff on the forest floor. The moment such fires come to a bare earth road, or even to a lane covered with sparse, short and little inflamable vegetation, they stop for want of fuel. After a fire has once attained great dimen- sions, and especially where it has developed into a top-fire, roads and lanes are no longer of the least benefit. *
"The object of fire protection must always be to prevent the blaze, when it has once broken out, from gaining such dimensions that it becomes uncontrollable."
Reference has been made to the fact that fires are often fed by heaps of brush negligently left by wood choppers; these piles are often heaviest close to the road, where the fire- fighters may be called upon to hold a fire or may wish to start a back fire, and so greatly increase the difficutly and danger of their work. The expense of burning brush, at a safe time, is not great and no man has a moral right to en- danger the property of his neighbors by keeping piles of in- flammable material on his land-material which may be in-
The writer here overlooks the fact that such fire-lanes form the best base lines for back-firing,-the only way to control a great conflagration. As these big fires are accompanied by high winds, it is dangerous to back fire along an ordi- nary highway; the added width of the fire-lane makes the danger much less.
Plymouth 6
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directly the cause of a disastrous conflagration. Let us hope that before long he will have no more legal right to do this than to endanger the lives and property of others in ways which the law now forbids !
I quote again from Gifford :-
"The greatest damage done by the lumberman is not in cutting the forest. The main purpose of the forest it to yield timber, and most of the wood cut in the past has been over- ripe. He has left the ground covered with slash, so that destructive fires have followed in his wake. This has pre- vented natural regeneration. If the destruction due to these fires could have been prevented, nature would have replen- ished these cut-over areas long ago. The more the lumber man cuts and the fire burns, the fewer become the seed trees, and the more difficult becomes the natural regeneration of valuable kinds."
Are not our woodlands generally cut in the way here de- scribed ?
Again, quoting from Bruncken :
"A provision which has been enacted by law in some States, and which some lumbermen follow voluntarily is to burn up, under proper precautions, the debris left on the ground after felling. It is universally admitted that these piles of tree tops and branches, lying loosely and quickly drying, are among the most dangerous places in the woods.
"Not a few destructive fires are traced to them annually. It has been demonstrated that the expense of properly burn- ing these remnants is so low that, even where the margin of profit is very small, a lumberman can well afford to take this precaution, and any failure to do so must be ascribed to wan- ton disregard of the rights of others.
While our woods as a whole are of great value to the town, factors in our health, our happiness and our pros- perity. through their attraction for people who come from other places to enjoy them, they do not possess one-tenth of
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the pecuniary value which they might and ought to have. About the only valuable trees that we have are the occasion- al patches of white pines; and these are fast being cut off on account of their owners' fear of fire or because of the grow- ing demand for logs. Some of the modern mills in neigh- boring towns consume from ten to twenty cords of logs a day and run nearly all the year. The time is soon coming when the mill owners will stimulate interest in growing the pine which they need and when it will pay the owners of woodland to take pains to grow valuable woods instead of oak sprouts for which, in ordinary years, there is small de- mand.
It is for the interest of the town to preserve as many of the valuable trees as it can; and in most cases it is better for the owner of a fine bit of forest to cut out the fully grown trees and the undesirable ones first, thereby allowing those which are growing fast to develop more rapidly and, at the same time, the seedlings to start. In this way an amount of timber, proportional to the size of the forest, can be ob- tained, frequently larger in total amount and still larger in value (for the quality of the lumber is better on account of its greater size) than when the whole tract is cut at once and the half grown trees felled with those that are mature. In- cidentally the standing trees will reseed the bottom and sow the surrounding land and in time a fine forest will result.
The forester will do all in his power to assist anyone de- siring to treat his woodland in a rational way, i. e. to get the largest return from it and at the same time to preserve its value as far as possible. Any information he has or can se- cure will be gladly given and if an owner of pine land wishes to market his timber the forester will endeavor to find a pur- chaser who will regard the interests of the owner of the land as far as possible.
It may be that purchasers can be found for such timber who would cut it little by little, taking all risk of fire them-
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selves, thus preserving to the owner of the land in great measure its value for forest purposes.
To anyone familiar with the many thousand acres of land in our township which has been rendered worthless by fire no argument is needed to show the advantage that would ac- crue to owners, and to the town, if this land could be made to grow valuable timber. When we succeed in eliminating the danger of destructive fires there will be encouragement to work for the reforestation of much of this land.
The proved efficiency of our "fire wagons" with their equipment of chemical extinguishers and materials for re- charging, etc .; the success of the fire-lane established last year, on which a small force of men stopped the fire of May 9-II, together with the fact that fire-lanes have proved most useful elsewhere, as shown by the quotations I have made from the recent works of expert foresters, indicate that we are on the right track.
Much of detail needs to be worked out in the light of ex- perience and doubtless many improvements can be made. The new wagon which will be ready for service this year is believed to be much more serviceable and convenient than the old ones, hence it is likely to be more effective.
I can only refer briefly within the limits of this report, al- ready too long, to the plans on which the recommendations for the coming year are based.
As soon as the private observatory referred to in my last report is built I would advise the construction of a similar observatory in the town. When this is done fires can be lo- cated quickly with considerable accuracy, and the extinguish- ers sent at once to the proper points.
Several more small racks, with extinguishers, should be placed in the hands of fire wards in out lying districts.
A patrol of efficient men, with extinguishers in their wagons, should be on duty on Sundays and holidays during dry weather in sections where the woods are frequented by parties. These men should be special police officers.
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The main roads leading into the woods should be posted not only with signs stating the law with penalty for viola- tions, but with others calling attention to the common forms of carelessness and the necessity for extreme caution; and in all legitimate ways it should be made impossible for any one to set a fire unless he is wantonly negligent or malicious.
The fire-lane system should be extended as fast as practi- cable and the established lanes kept in condition.
The item for salaries in the account at the beginning of this report covers the salary of the forester for two years 1901-2 and includes his conveyance except charges for horse hire during the fire May 9-1I, incurred after his horse was used to the limit.
It must be remembered that work on fire-lanes must be done largely in the winter and early spring, before the an- · nual town meeting. The balance to the credit of the ac- count Jan. I. 1903 is being drawn on for work now under way and, with the appropriation of $500.00 asked for, must last until the March meeting 1904.
GEORGE R. BRIGGS, Forester.
REPORT OF TREE WARDEN.
Balance to credit of account January 1, 1902,
$105 69
Appropriation, 1,400 00
Received for spraying, etc.,
92 78
Due Forester's account,
12 50
Overdrawn,
372 12
$1,983 09
Expended for labor,
$1,152 85
Materials, tools bought and hired,
213 25
Insecticide,
123 20
Trees and stakes,
52 86
Loam,
22 15
Freight and express,
7 28
Printing,
II 50
Salaries (1901 and 1902)
400 00
$1,983 09
The campaign against the Elm leaf beetle in 1901 seemed successful enough to show that this dangerous enemy to our most beautiful shade trees can be conquered by following the same methods persistently and thoroughly. In 1901 there were a number of trees, standing on private lands, which the workmen were not allowed to spray. It was known that these trees harbored large numbers of the beetles which in all probability would spread about the town to the injury of our public trees.
Early in 1902 the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law permitting tree-wardens to enter private grounds for the purpose of destroying dangerous insects, so that it is no longer necessary to allow breeding grounds for such insects,
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to exist. There is every reason, therefore, to believe that the work done in 1902 was much more effective in putting an end to the elm leaf beetle than that done in 1901, and it is probable that less spraying will be required the coming year. There is good reason to hope that by 1904 it will only be necessary to spray the trunks of the trees at the time when the larvæ come down to pupate,-work that can be done from the ground rapidly and with inexpensive insecticides.
The decrease in the number of beetles last year was marked, but some appeared in midsummer in streets near the cemeteries from whence they probably came, being a second brood from trees not supposed to be infected; these trees should be sprayed this year.
It is a cause of congratulation and satisfaction that such general interest is shown in preserving our trees, and that the funds needed for the work have been so willingly ap- propriated by the town.
The gypsy moth and brown-tail moth, which are so trou- blesome in the districts north of Boston, have not yet shown themselves in Plymouth; but they may come at any time, and we should be prepared to combat them effectively on their first appearance, in view of the damage and discom- fort which they cause in sections where they are numerous.
The newer streets of Plymouth, with the exeception of Lincoln street, which is set with maples that are growing rapidly, were almost without trees last spring; there were also places on the older streets where trees had been removed, and some stretches which had never been planted. The warden received numerous requests to set trees in these lo- calities. and several offers to give trees to the town, if the town would do the transplanting. Believing that trees should be planted early on new streets, not only to shade and improve these streets as quickly as possible, but in order to secure proper locations for trees before the curbings are set, and to get them well established before concrete sidewalks,
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gutters and macadam are laid. the offers of trees were gen- erally accepted by the warden .- especially as the chance to get a considerable number of desirable trees was exceptional.
Some two hundred and fifty trees were set, mostly on Standish and Warren avenues. Alden, Allerton, Court, Clyf- ton. Davis. Mount Pleasant, Pleasant, South, Vernon and Whiting streets. Where the soil was very poor, loam was put in the holes before planting the trees: but the warden did not feel authorized to expend much money for the pur- chase of soil and doubtless a good deal more might have been used to good advantage. Planting and staking the trees and the purchase and placing of suitable wire guards around them. necessarily involved an expenditure several times larger than had been planned to devote to these pur- poses. At the time the trees were planted it seemed prob- able that the lessened need for spraying would allow the planting to be done within the appropriation. but this did not prove to be the case .- several unexpected causes contrib- uting to the overdraft.
In the opinion of the tree warden the town wants trees and cannot begin too soon to grow them. for. when large enough to give shade. they are an improvement worth many times their cost.
The trees given to the town were almost entirely elms and maples, among the latter a number of a rare variety given by T. R. Watson. Esq. To secure a somewhat greater va- riety some white ash. chestnut and hackberry trees were purchased. The thanks of the town are due to Messrs. Edw. L. Barnes. Chas. G. Davis. Elkanah Finney. Seth W. Paty. Wm. P. Stoddard. B. O. Strong. Frank Tripp. T. R. Wat- son. and to Mrs. Wm. P. Stoddard for gifts of trees; Mr. Paty also gave loam. The planting seems to be success- ful. though a few trees failed to live and some have been mutilated in spite of their guards.
Horses are frequently left in the streets without being
1
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hitched, and they frequently injure trees,-especially small trees, about which it is impossible to place guards above which a horse cannot reach. The only way to prevent such injuries is to prosecute those who allow their horses to cause them. If it is generally understood that it will cost five dollars or more to allow a horse to mutilate a tree in the least degree, drivers will take proper care of them. It is impossible for the tree warden to make complaint without evidence to support the charge, and he asks the assistance of all persons interested in the matter.
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