PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM FIRE 265 



fire-lines for the control of the burning, and in this 

 way the expense of making special lines may be partly 

 saved. 



In the work of burning it is usually advisable to have 

 a crew of at least 10 men, properly equipped with fire- 

 fighting implements, in order to control the fire. So far 

 as possible only small portions of the area should be 

 under fire at one time, especially when there is any possi- 

 ble danger of the fire spreading to the adjoining woods. 



There is no question that this method is much more 

 dangerous than burning brush in piles, and for this 

 reason the latter method should be used whenever pos- 

 sible. A great objection to broadcast burning is that 

 any remaining trees, reproduction, or young growth, al- 

 ready started on the cut-over area, are almost inevitably 

 destroyed. 



Annual or Periodic Burning of Litter. In many 

 places, notably in the pine districts of the South, it has 

 been the custom to let surface fires run through the woods 

 every year, usually in order to improve the range. This 

 is defended on the theory that if the litter is allowed to 

 accumulate for a number of years, a fire would be so 

 severe as to kill all the timber, whereas an annual fire 

 burns only the year's fall of leaves or needles, and does 

 little damage to the standing trees. Where the trees are 

 tapped for turpentine the litter is raked away from the 

 boxed trees, so that the fire will not reach them. 



There is no question that in the unprotected yellow- 

 pine forests this custom has resulted in saving a large 



