litter that complete destruction is the usual result of a 

 summer fire. 



I recently had an opportunity to study the very 

 densely planted forests of Prance. Crown fires are 

 unknown in these forests because the people pick up 

 the litter for fuel. It is not possible, of course, for us 

 to go fagoting through our forests and we must dis- 

 pose of the litter in some other manner. 



Our attempt to maintain the non-fire policy has 

 shown that forest fires are inevitable where the forests 

 contain a large proportion of inflammable litter. The 

 destruction by fire increases as the litter increases. 

 Live trees will not burn without the sustained heat from 

 considerable dry fuel. A young conifer tree will with- 

 stand the intense heat which kills all but the topmost 

 limbs. We use the backfire to remove the litter in 

 order to stop a crown fire. The backfire may be used 

 under most adverse circumstances and does little or no 

 harm to the live trees. When the crown fire reaches 

 the area backfired the live trees will not sustain it and 

 it is stopped. In this case, the backfire limits the de- 

 struction. It may be used during and at the end of the 

 wet season to prevent it, and more economically. Fire 

 prevention simply delays the burning up of the last 

 conifer tree where it stands. 



The importance of fire as a silvicultural agent in the 

 coniferous forests has been recognized in that it has be- 

 come the general practice to burn over cuttings to in- 

 sure reproduction, but it has not been fully appreciated. 

 Fire is an aid to reproduction as it creates favorable 

 conditions for the germination of the seeds by remov- 

 ing competition, preparing the seed bed, opening the 



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