158 The Farm Woodlot 



regularly every year. In some places the people are be- 

 ginning to learn from experience that the burning is not a 

 good practice even from an agricultural standpoint. The 

 fertility of the soil decreases steadily and the better 

 grasses are replaced by coarser' and inferior species. 



In some sections many fires are started by tramps who 

 camp in the woodlots for the night, cook their dinners, 

 and are careless with their camp fires. They take no care 

 in locating the fires and then leave them to be spread 

 by the wind. They should be watched closely and care 

 should be taken in handling them, or they may maliciously 

 or thoughtlessly fire the woods. k' 



There are a few precautionary measures that should be 

 observed in every woodlot no matter how remote the danger 

 from fire may appear to be. All slashings from lumbering, 

 all windfalls and all dead brush should be piled and care- 

 fully burned. This is an inexpensive process and prevents 

 the occurrence of a violent fire. A fire running in a clean 

 woods is easily controlled, but in the dry slashings or wind- 

 fall it is impossible to do anything with it. 



If the tract is large, there should be several roads through 

 it to make all parts of it easily accessible and to serve as 

 bases from which to fight the fire. These should be kept 

 well cleaned out and the mineral soil exposed wherever 

 possible. There is no better fire break than a well-main- 

 tained road. Unassisted it will stop any surface fire in a 

 clean forest and prevent it from spreading over the whole 

 tract. These are both good sylvicultural measures and 

 cause no inconvenience. 



The most effective implements in fighting fire are the 

 shovel and the plow. A well-turned furrow will stop a light 



