CHAPTER IV. 

 BURNING OFF. 



THE BUSH FIRES ACT AND REGULATIONS. 



It is very desirable to burn off scrub country occasionally in 

 order to sweeten and promote a more vigorous growth of succulent 

 feed. Fire is the great revivifying agent of the Australian bush. It 

 may seem very strange to those living in the colder latitudes of the 

 northern hemisphere, but a large number of seeds of indigenous 

 plants of Australia will not germinate until they have been subjected 

 to an intense heat. Nature has protected them with an outer 

 covering that is so hard that only fire will break it sufficiently to 

 permit the requisite moisture to gain admission to the seed and 

 induce germination. The end of summer or beginning of autumn, 

 before the rains set in, is the best time for burning, and it should 

 be done at night if possible, as it is so much easier to see where the 

 sparks fly. Every precaution should be taken to prevent the fire 

 getting away, and it is better to burn a strip round the fences first 

 in order to obviate this as far as possible. By the following extracts 

 from the " Bush Fires Act " it will be seen that regulations can be 

 made from time to time by the Governor in Executive Council, as 

 to what time burning off is permissible in certain districts. It will 

 also be noticed that burning off may .be done, under certain 

 conditions, at any time, provided adequate notice is given to 

 neighbours. 



INTERPRETATION. 



4. In this Act the following words shall have the meanings respectively assigned 

 to them, if not inconsistent with the context : 



" Bush " shall mean and include grass, stubble, scrub, bushes, trees, and all 



other vegetation. 

 u Prohibited times " shall mean the times of the year during which it shall 



have been declared by the Governor in Council to be unlawful to set 



fire to the bush within any district or part of the colony as hereinafter 



mentioned. 

 " Occupier of land " shall include any person residing on the land and having 



charge or control thereof, whether such person shall be the owner 



or tenant, cr a bailiff, servant, caretaker, or other person residing and 



having charge or control as aforesaid. 



5. The Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, may from time to 

 time, by notice published in the Government (nizetlc, declare the times of the year 

 during which it shall be unlawful within any district or part of the colony mentioned 

 in the said notice, to set fire to the bush within that district or part, and may from, 

 time to time revoke, vary, or amend such declarations by notice as aforesaid. 



