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The flight of forest fires
488
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
The Flight of Forest Fires.--(U. S. Dept of Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) According to GEORCE M. JEMISON of the Forest Service forest fires are not the slowest things on earth, particularly when conditions are favorable to their spreading. The fire cited as an example took place in Idaho last August at a period when the duff in the forest was unusually dry. Starting at Io:3o one morning this fire in a single day burned over a tract 5 miles wide and I I I/~ miles long. At the beginning the wind was blowing I2 to I3 miles per hour and its velocity increased to I7 or I8 m.p.h, during the afternoon. Thirteen and one half hours after the fire's inception 640 men were fighting it and not until three days later was the fire brought under control. C. Expensive Leaks.--(U. S. Dept. Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) Engineers of the U. S. Department of Agriculture remind us that water leaking from a faucet in a stream the size of a common pin wastes about I5O gallons a day. A leak of about I drop per second amounts to about 4 gallons a day. While the householder may pay no attention to such leaks, they are invariably noticed by the water meter. C. Air-Conditioned Insect Abodes.--(U. S. Dept. Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) Most of us have heard of Coddling Moths and now the U. S. Department of Agriculture tells about coddling parasites. These parasites are reared in a laboratory and then taken to the orchard where they can prey upon the oriental fruit moth, a destructive foe of fruit growers. Many of these adult parasitic insects will not stand being shipped a considerable distance in hot weather. To prevent the bad effects of the necessary long, hot trips the Government entomologists at the Moorestown, N. J. station have devised a refrigerated container which seems to keep the parasites healthy and comfortable through a 5o-hour journey. Wooden cages having a capacity of 3oo cubic inches and holding about 5oo oriental fruit moth parasites are packed with dry sphagnum moss in a metal cylinder with a tight-fitting telescopic lid. The cylinder is placed in a 4o-quart ice cream shipping tub, which is then filled with sawdust and cracked ice. C.
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
The Flight of Forest Fires.--(U. S. Dept of Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) According to GEORCE M. JEMISON of the Forest Service forest fires are not the slowest things on earth, particularly when conditions are favorable to their spreading. The fire cited as an example took place in Idaho last August at a period when the duff in the forest was unusually dry. Starting at Io:3o one morning this fire in a single day burned over a tract 5 miles wide and I I I/~ miles long. At the beginning the wind was blowing I2 to I3 miles per hour and its velocity increased to I7 or I8 m.p.h, during the afternoon. Thirteen and one half hours after the fire's inception 640 men were fighting it and not until three days later was the fire brought under control. C. Expensive Leaks.--(U. S. Dept. Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) Engineers of the U. S. Department of Agriculture remind us that water leaking from a faucet in a stream the size of a common pin wastes about I5O gallons a day. A leak of about I drop per second amounts to about 4 gallons a day. While the householder may pay no attention to such leaks, they are invariably noticed by the water meter. C. Air-Conditioned Insect Abodes.--(U. S. Dept. Agric. Clip Sheet No. 735.) Most of us have heard of Coddling Moths and now the U. S. Department of Agriculture tells about coddling parasites. These parasites are reared in a laboratory and then taken to the orchard where they can prey upon the oriental fruit moth, a destructive foe of fruit growers. Many of these adult parasitic insects will not stand being shipped a considerable distance in hot weather. To prevent the bad effects of the necessary long, hot trips the Government entomologists at the Moorestown, N. J. station have devised a refrigerated container which seems to keep the parasites healthy and comfortable through a 5o-hour journey. Wooden cages having a capacity of 3oo cubic inches and holding about 5oo oriental fruit moth parasites are packed with dry sphagnum moss in a metal cylinder with a tight-fitting telescopic lid. The cylinder is placed in a 4o-quart ice cream shipping tub, which is then filled with sawdust and cracked ice. C.