PROTECTION OF FOREST PROPERTY 29 



are covered with slash. Back fires should be built around the 



edge of the strip and around all seed trees. 

 Early fall burning is recommended because: 

 (i) Fire in stubs will soon be extinguished by rain. 



(2) Some seed trees are Hable to be killed and the forest will 

 secure the benefit of the seed crop if the area is burned before 

 the seeds fall. 



(3) There will be no summer growth of weeds to check the 

 reproduction the following spring. 



(4) On the higher elevations a clear burn cannot be secured 

 in the spring because of moisture conditions. 



(5) The hottest fire can be secured in the fall because the 

 brush is then thoroughly dry. 



The method recommended by the Chief Fire Warden of 

 Washington for preparing a slashing for broadcast burning con- 

 sists in felling all large stubs on a strip from 300 to 1000 feet wide 

 on the leeward side of the cutting. Stubs in the green timber are 

 also felled along this hne for a distance of from 200 to 300 feet 

 back from the cut-over area, and if the fire danger is great a fire 

 trail is cut in the green timber about 50 feet back of the slashing. 

 The fire is usually started in the afternoon on the leeward side 

 and is allowed to burn back against the wind and toward the 

 center of the clearing. Men are stationed along the green 

 timber to prevent the fire from running into it. If the area is 

 large a fire is started in the center of the cut-over area from 

 three to four hours after the first and allowed to work to lee- 

 ward. Later a fire is started on the windward side and the 

 remainder of the area burned over. 



Debris on steep slopes is burned from the top down to pre- 

 vent timber on the upper edge from being killed by the intense 

 heat which would result from a heavy fire running up the 

 slope. 



In the southern pine region forestry is not practiced at present 

 but it is probable that some lumbermen will soon be interested 

 in logging their virgin timberlands so as to secure a second cut 

 in fifteen or twenty years. Brush disposal is necessary to assure 

 the success of a plan of this sort. Observations and experiments 



