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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



sap is down than when it is running freely, or when the tree or bush is in full 

 leaf. Probably the best time for chopping is from the middle of May to the middle 

 of July, as the trees, being in full leaf, burn easily and clean, and the windrows, or 

 brush-heaps, have ample time to dry out before the burning season. Fir, cedar, and 

 the other coniferous trees can be cut any time and they will not sprout, and as 

 the leaves or needles are green the year round there is always enough small dried 

 foliage to ensure a clean burn. 



The best time to cut willow and small brush in wet swamps is in October or 

 early in November, just after or just before the leaves fall. They should be cut 

 very close to the ground and piled closely. They will not burn the year they are 

 cut, but will burn well the following spring. These trees are difficult to kill out 

 unless cut at a time of the year when all the sap is out of the root and before it 



Typical bush land. Lower Fraser Valley. 



has begun to run back from the leaves into the root. It has been found from 

 many experiments that cutting them at this time of the year kills a great many 

 of the roots, and if the burning is left until about May, by which time any roots 

 which are not dead will have sprouted, the fire almost always finishes them. The 

 same thing would apply to almost any other kind of deciduous trees, but the period 

 during which this chopping or slashing can be done to advantage in the fall is very 

 limited probably not over a month which would make the chopping season very 

 short, besides which it cannot be burned until spring. 



I cannot too strongly emphasize the vital importance in land-clearing of only 

 doing just that kind of work which is most suitable for the particular time of the 

 year ; more time, money, and labour have been wasted in clearing land from not 

 carefully studying this question than from any other cause. Another very important 

 thing is always to follow the regular rotation of the different operations of land- 

 clearing as a proper rotation of crops is essential to successful farming, so is it 

 equally important in successful land-clearing to observe a proper rotation of the 

 different clearing operations. This will be explained in greater detail later on. 



