238 



Canadian Forestry Journal, May, ip20. 



Controlled Fires to Clear up 

 Farm Land 



A Successful Experiment 



on a Wholesale Scale in Northern 



Alberta 



An experiment in wholesale clear- 

 ing of farm lands by controlled fires 

 was carried out by the Soldier Set- 

 tlement Board last year in Northern 

 Alberta, under the direction of Mr. 

 Fred V. Seibert, D.1..S. The last 

 issue of the Forestry Journal con- 

 tained two photograjihic reproduc- 

 tions showing the nature of the work. 

 Herewith is given Mr. Seibert's des- 

 cription of the operation. His con- 

 clusions are (piite definite: That 

 firing is a safe and economical method 

 of clearing land for settlement where 

 the country is covered with scrub 

 poplar, willows, brule and windfall ; 

 that Spring fires can be controlled ; 

 that such controlled firing can be 

 made of great practical advantage in 

 protection of timber growing areas of 

 l)rule and windfall. 



We started work on April 15th and 

 ceased operations on May 21st. 



Our first work was to fireguard the 

 area, and this operation was also con- 

 ducted as an experiment. We tried 

 every method that looked at all rea- 

 sonable. W^e found that the choosing 

 of the location of the fireguard was 

 a large factor in its economical con- 

 struction ; that it wa snot advisable 

 to follow section lines, but to follow 

 open meadows, grassy knolls and 

 creek banks even to the extent of 

 going a few miles further. By start- 

 ing fire-guarding early, as soon as the 

 snow is ofif, one man with a torch 

 and three or four men with good fire 

 beaters, consisting of a wet blanket 

 tied to an axe handle, can first go 

 around the area and burn off the 

 ridges which dry out first, then thev 

 can make a second trip and burn off 

 the hay sloughs and widen out the 

 ridges if necessary, and finally, where 

 necessary, on a third trip, they can 



connect these areas already burned 

 and so complete the fire guard. 



Building Guards. 



While our guard was in no place 

 less tha ntwenty feet, in some cases 

 it was from ten to twenty chains, and 

 I have seen places outside the area 

 experimented on, where it should be 

 even more. The main thing in con- 

 .'UTUcting a fire guard is not alone to 

 comply with the regulations, but to 

 have a guard of sufificient width to 

 be absolutely sure that no fire will 

 jump it. The width must be left to 

 the discretion and good judgment of 

 the men in charge, who, to be com- 

 petent to judge, must have had con- 

 siderable experience with forest fires. 

 He must take note of all the condi- 

 tions bordering on the fire guard that 

 will assist in carrying live sparks 

 over it. Dry standing stubs with dry 

 light bark is an example of what he 

 must look for. One such tree near 

 the fire guard might be sufficient to 

 carry the fire across. The fire climb- 

 ing the stub will cause sparks to be 

 blown ofif by the wind which, before 

 they reach the ground may be blown 

 many chains. Too great care cannot 

 be taken with the fire guard, and it 

 is always better to have it wider than 

 necessary than a few feet too nar- 

 row. 



A\'hen the guard was completed 

 we started burning small areas, not- 

 ing the results, for only in this way 

 could we be sure of the best time at 

 which to set the final fire in order to 

 obtain the maximum results. 



At the same time an area of stand- 

 ing brule and windfall, with a good 

 mat of grass was chosen, and a line 

 picketed through the centre in such a 

 way as to equally divide the work of 



