THE BEST BRUSH BURNING TORCH 



By. Wm. T. Cox 



Slash disposal is now a regular part of logging in Minnesota. 

 The loggers, during the past year, have spent in the neighbor- 

 hood of $300,000 burning brush, or about ten cents a thousand 

 on the cut of three billion feet of timber. Half of this was cut 

 into saw logs ; the other half was made into pulpwood, railroad 

 ties, mining timber, telegraph and telephone poles and various 

 other forest products. 



The slash resulting from the pine cuttings was practically all 

 burned, and fire lines of different kinds were burned around the 

 spruce and cedar cuttings. Only a very limited amount of "lop- 

 ping" was done, and this mostly in areas of hardwood. It is 

 evident, therefore, that fire was employed in practically all of 

 the slash disposal work conducted by Minnesota lumbermen. 



There are many hundreds of logging camps operating in north 

 ern Minnesota, and it is but natural that a good many different 

 methods of actually doing the burning would be tried out by the 

 numerous foremen. Torches of all shapes and sizes were used ; 

 brands were carried on forks from pile to pile ; coals were car- 

 ried on long-handled shovels ; wads of birch-bark were thrust 

 into piles and lighted ; crude oil and even kerosene were spilled 

 on the brush piles to start them off. No single one of these 

 methods will work better than all of the others in every kind 

 of slash and under the varying conditions ; but it developed that 

 in nearly every case a torch is most satisfactory- The cost and 

 difficulty of transportation are against the general use of crude 

 oil and kerosene. Carrying coals and brands is inconvenient 

 where there is much hazel or other brush growth, or where the 

 distance between piles of slash is considerable. Gathering and 

 lighting birch-bark, though quite widely practiced on account of 

 the abundance of birch trees, is a very deliberate performance as 

 carried on by the average lumber- jack. Unless closely watched, 

 there is much loafing on the job. 



Now as to the torch itself. Many kinds were found in use. 

 Tight rolls of birch-bark fastened to a stick with hay wire last 



