REPORT OF STATE HORTICULTURIST. 6l 



bushes of birch, etc., in the fall, so that the territory will be 

 perfectly clean after the burn, for many do not even go to that 

 small expense, allowing the fire to kill the larger bushes if it will. 



The burn is an interesting operation in its simplicity. The 

 person in charge selects the area and in the morning after the 

 material on the ground is dry enough to burn, he arms him- 

 self with a long torch constructed of a pipe which is filled with 

 oil and a sort of wick attached to the end in such a way as to be 

 supplied with only enough oil to burn freely. Starring on the 

 side from which the wind blows he then travels along, lighting 

 many fires as he walks. The wind carries this fire onward 

 across the plains until night falls. The damp evening air is 

 usually sufficient to check the fire enough so that it will die out 

 before morning. Thus a single man is able to burn a large 

 area in a day. 



This work is done in the spring as soon as the fire will run, 

 usually in the month of May, and there is of course some dan- 

 ger in a dry season of losing control of the fire, but this does 

 not occur often on territory properly cared for, because the 

 bum is made once in three years and in that period hardly 

 material enough will collect to make a disastrous fire. Too 

 heavy burns destroy many of the roots so that the crop is ma- 

 terially affected. For this reason little burning is attempted in 

 unusually dry seasons. 



Of course there is no crop to harvest the first year, but the 

 following two years are the ones which the owners depend on 

 for their returns. Sometimes three seasons' crops are picked 

 before the process is repeated. 



The land owners usually divide their territory into three 

 portions, so that two parts will be yielding a crop and the other 

 will be burned and ready to produce the next year. 



The fertilizing problem has received little or no attention for 

 this is virgin soil and all that seems to be necessary for fertil- 

 izer is the ashes from the cover of berry vines and bushes. 



In the summer when the berries are about ready to pick, the 

 land is leased to pickers who are ready to go on to the work 

 as soon as word is given. Usually one person gets the lease 

 permission to pick on a specified staked territory, and he will 

 furnish pickers enough to gather that area while he himself will 

 attend to the hauling to the cannery. Usually one picking will 



