HERMAN H. CHAPMAN 57 



ging is not so difficult to secure. Any operator will cut 

 low stumps, and take small logs from the tops as soon as 

 he can be convinced that it pays him to do it. But all 

 silvicultural systems call for the actual investment of 

 money in the forest, in various forms. The portion of 

 the stand, which is left, reduces the present cut, and since 

 it costs just as much to build roads, the relative cost per 

 unit of product is higher. The timber must be felled so 

 that it will not injure any more young trees than nec- 

 essary. This may not entail extra expense except in in- 

 creased supervision and friction between the boss and the 

 crew. But the disposal of the tops and limbs is always 

 an open question. The danger from fire is in most dis- 

 tricts so great that if this rubbish is left to dry out, there 

 is almost sure to be a fire that will ruin most of the re- 

 maining stand. The tops can in some cases be burned 

 either in piles, or as they lie, without much damage, if 

 done at the right season. On the Minnesota National 

 Forest much of this burning was done in winter as the 

 logging progressed, with great success. The rest was 

 burned as soon in the spring as the piles were dry but 

 before the ground dried out. For every 1,000 feet of tim- 

 ber scaled, it cost from 12 to 25 cents to pile and burn 

 the tops. But the resulting condition of the forest was 

 more than satisfactory, and it has been a comparatively 

 easy matter to keep fires out of the cut-over area. In 

 spruce sections it is recommended that instead of burn- 

 ing, the tops be cut down to lie flat on the ground, where 

 in about two years they will decay and cease to be a 

 menace. In portions of the southwest it is thought best to 

 let the tops lie, and not to burn them, since the shade 

 is beneficial to seedlings and owing to the scattered con- 

 dition of the tops, the increase in fire risk is not very great. 

 Local conditions will always determine what disposition 

 to make of the tops. 



