PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM FIRE 



593 



Piling and Burning Brmh as Logging 

 Proceeds 



The most economical method of de- 

 stroying brush and debris produced in 

 lumbering is to burn it as the logging 

 proceeds. This is possible when the 

 ground is covered with snow or is so 

 damp that fire will not spread. The 

 work is done by the logging crew. As 

 the trees are felled, convenient locations 

 for burning the brush are selected, 

 where no damage will be done to the 

 trees and to young growth left stand- 

 ing, and where the fires will least in- 

 terfere with skidding the logs. Small 

 fires are started, and as the branches are 

 cut off the trimmers throw them on the 

 nearest fire. One reason why this 

 method is cheaper than the others is 

 because the branches need not be cut 

 up so small, for the fire is already burn- 

 ing when they are thrown on. In conif- 

 erous forests the tops burn readily, even 

 on the snow or in stormy weather. 

 Sometimes when it is not practicable 

 to start a fire near a given top, the trim- 

 ming of the limbs is deferred until the 

 skidders can haul it bodily near a fire. 

 The branches are than lopped and the 

 last cut made, enabling the skidders to 

 go on with the top log, while the chop- 

 pers throw the brush on the fire. 



If the work is systematized, the brush 

 is practically all disposed of as the logs 

 are skidded, and the woods are cleaned 

 up as the logging proceeds. There is 

 a distinct advantage to the skidders 

 through having open ground to work 

 over. This method should be used only 

 when there is no danger of a spread of 

 fire. Its use on a large scale is con- 

 fined to logging during the season of 

 snow or rain. 



The best method of calculating the 

 cost of brush disposal is on the basis of 

 the amount of timber cut, measured in 

 board feet, log measure. A determina- 

 tion of cost per acre would be mis- 

 leading, because of the great variation 

 of yield in different forests. 



The cost varies widely under different 

 conditions. If trees have heavy crowns 

 and large, heavy limbs, the cost is much 

 greater than where the crowns are 



smaller. Thus, for example, the cost 

 of destroying the brush produced in 

 logging a stand of large hemlock would 

 be greater per thousand feet of mer- 

 chantable timber secured than in log- 

 ging an equal amount in a small- 

 crowned species like red pine. If the 

 trees have a large volume, and the stand 

 is heavy, the cost of disposing of their 

 tops is less than it would be on an equal 

 area for a sparse stand of trees that 

 yielded only a small amount of mer- 

 chantable timber per tree. 



The cost and efficiency of labor must, 

 of course, enter into the cost of piling 

 or burning brush, as it does in any other 

 logging operation. If the men know just 

 how to perform the work to the best 

 advantage, and are industrious and en- 

 ergetic, the cost of piling the brush is 

 much less than otherwise. In many 

 cases the high cost of brush disposal 

 has been simply due to the fact that the 

 men who were doing the work were in- 

 efficient, unwilling, or unskilled. Still 

 another factor influencing cost is the 

 ease of the work as influenced by the 

 density and amount of small growth and 

 the irregularities of the ground. 



The Forest Service, working in for- 

 ests in the Lake States composed of 

 mixed red and white pine, has dis- 

 disposed of brush in the manner de- 

 scribed at a cost of 12 cents per thou- 

 sand board feet. 



Piling and Burning Brush in Separate 

 Operations 



Where the logging is done during 

 the dry season, the brush is piled when- 

 ever convenient, but the burning of the 

 piles is deferred until a favorable time, 

 such as during damp weather or after 

 the first snowfall. 



The best time for piling brush is dur- 

 ing the cutting and skidding of the tim- 

 ber. As the branches are lopped from 

 the stem they are immediately cut up 

 and thrown on a pile. The work is done 

 by the regular trimming crew, and, or- 

 dinarily, the extra work requires the ad- 

 dition of only one man to the regular 

 number. The advantages of organiz- 



