Plate VIII, Fig, 1— A Fully Cleared Fire Line in the San Gabriel Mountains 



The cost of lopping the tops of spruce 

 in the Adirondacks was twelve cents 

 per thousand feet of lumber cut. 



Lopping is the most advisable method 

 of brush disposal under the following 

 conditions : 



( 1 ) Where there is very little danger 

 of fires starting. 



(2) Where the region is moist and 

 the branches will absorb moisture 

 quickly. 



(3) When the forest is so dense that 

 piling and burning is impractical. 



(4) Where the custom of logging 

 and of utilizing the crown is such that 

 the greater part of the tree is utilized 

 and but little crown is left, while what is 

 left will not be especially dangerous if 

 thoroughly lopped and scattered. 



(5) Where the scattering of the 

 branches is necessary or desirable to 

 protect the soil and small seedlings from 

 drought or frost. 



Broadcast Burning 



For a number of years it has been 

 the custom of certain lumbermen to 

 burn their slashings, in order to pro- 

 tect valuable standing timber on neigh- 

 boring areas. There is usually no at- 

 tempt to regulate the fire within the 

 662 



area burned, and all living trees and 

 young growth upon it are destroyed 

 along with the brush and debris. From 

 the standpoint of forest production such 

 fires are very destructive. 



The principle of broadcast burning 

 may, however, be used to advantage in 

 making clear cuttings, provided the fire 

 can be confined to small areas and fully 

 controlled. Thus, in making clearings 

 in patches and strips in certain of the 

 National Forests, the slashings are 

 burned on the ground without piling. 

 This method is now under trial in some 

 of the clear cuttings in the northwestern 

 X'ational Forests, where, in addition to 

 the slash from the cuttings, there is a 

 great accumulation of debris and the 

 litter and humus is very heavy. In some 

 instances this debris and litter is a hind- 

 rance to reproduction, as well as an in- 

 vitation to fire, and its destruction is 

 beneficial. The heavy loss of humus 

 which must accompany so hot a fire 

 may be more than counterbalanced for 

 the forester by the improved conditions 

 for reproduction of the species desired. 

 The expense of piling all the slash and 

 debris would under these conditions 

 be very large, probably not less than 



