Journal of the Department 

 OF Agriculture. 



Vol. I. AUGUST, 1920. No. 5. 



Published monthly in English ami Afrikaans by the Department of Agriculture, 



Union of South Africa. 



Subscription: Within the Union and Sonth-VVest Pmtectorate, 5s« (otherwise 6Sm) 

 per annum, post free, payable in advance. 



Applications, with subscriptions, to be sent to the Government 

 Printer, Box 378, Pretoria. 



METHODS OF FIRE PROTECTION. 



With Special Reference to Fires caused by Sparks from 



Railway Engines. 



By E. Baker, B.Sc, Lecturer in Botany, Elsenbiirg School of 



Agriculture. 



Fire constitutes one of tlie greatest clangers to wliicli our forests, 

 plantations, and veld areas are exposed. The indigenous hush, the 

 cultivated woods with their thick even-aged plantations, types of veld 

 (including such areas- as the bushveld with its masses of dead trees), 

 the grain lands, and the sugar-cane plantations, are all subject to 

 ravages by fire. 



Causes of Fire. 



Before dealing with methods of control and prevention, it would 

 be well to consider what are the chief causes of fire breaking out in 

 the areas mentioned above. First among these are those fires due 

 directly to sparks from railway engines. 



A second cause may be put down to veld burning. In some 

 instances the farmer v.ishes to burn a certain amount of veld, perhaps 

 for his own protection or for securing early grazing, and the fire gets 

 beyond his control, causing damage to his own and very often to his 

 neighbours' properties. 



Another cause may be put down to carelessness or malice. At 

 certain times of the year when trekking through the bushveld, one 



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