274 SYLVICULTURE IN THE TROPICS ft. 



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apt to lose their heads, while they will remain cool and 

 collected if somebody else is present to take that. The 

 superior officer in his turn will garner knowledge and 

 experience, which will always be useful to him during 

 his service. 



The number of men to be employed for a firing gang 

 will depend on whether the line has only to be fired 

 from one side or whether it has a guide-line on either 

 side, on the width of the line, on the configuration of 

 the ground, on the nature of the grass, soil, and in- 

 flammability of the grass in the adjoining forests, on 

 the aptitude of the men, on the fickleness of gusts of 

 wind, and on the direction and straightness of the 

 guide-line. For it is evident that, if the line has to 

 be fired from both sides almost simultaneously, more 

 men will be required than if the flames are allowed to 

 spread as far' as they can go on one side. The varying 

 faculty of different grasses to catch fire and, so to say, 

 to run away with it, and the assistance to such in- 

 flammable grasses given by porous soils, has already 

 been alluded to, as has the nature of the soil cover- 

 ing in a forest which has been previously protected. It 

 is also clear that, in places where the w T ind is liable to 

 shift, as may often be the case, especially when the line 

 runs along the bottom of a winding valley with smaller 

 side valleys debouching into it, more men are required 

 for emergencies. Likewise, a wide line presenting a 

 larger sheet of flame, or one running across a slope, or 

 one which follows the curves of a winding stream 

 which serves as a guide-line, requires special precautions, 

 and so does one across which the prevailing winds are 

 blowing. Finally, a well-trained gang not only knows 

 better how to control the fire, but is less likely to be 

 seized with panic whenever the fire appears to be 

 getting out of hand, and, to an inexperienced eye, it 

 often seems impossible to check it. For this reason it 

 is to the advantage of the forest officer to recruit his 

 workmen for this purpose from neighbouring villages, 

 if there are any. Not only will the villagers thus 



