14 DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



In chopping this kind of bush the time of the year should be considered; the 

 best time to burn is about the middle of August; good fires are sometimes got a 

 month earlier or a month later, but August 15th is a fair average. During a dry 

 summer bush will burn two weeks after it is chopped (that is if it is well piled), 

 so it is a good plan to have all your chopping finished by August 1st if possible, or 

 even a little earlier. Alder is almost the only deciduous tree which can be chopped 

 when the sap is down and the leaves are off (that is in winter) without much 

 danger of its sprouting, so that it is better not to start chopping until about April 

 1st, by which time the trees are all bursting into leaf ; the more leaves there are when 

 the trees are cut the better will be the fire, and remember that a good burn is the 

 biggest half of the battle. If the brush is well piled and burnt at the right time, 

 the fire ought to sweep completely over the ground and burn everything up clean 

 (except a few of the bigger tree-trunks), leaving the ground quite bare except for 

 a fine covering of ashes. It is better to chop only 5 acres and pile everything up 

 thoroughly than chop 10 acres and do it carelessly, as the work of branding-up after 

 the fire in the former case is trifling, but if a good burn is not obtained the 

 picking-up is sometimes a big business. 



If the chopping is done by contract instead of personally, it always pays to give 

 a dollar or two an acre more and get an Al job than get it done cheaply and badly 

 piled. Spend a dollar extra in money or time on the chopping and piling and save 

 two dollars on the picking-up. 



ADVICE AS TO CHOPPING. 



Here are a few hints as to chopping: 



Pile the brush and trees in continuous rows (called windrows), not in heaps, 

 and if there is standing timber on the south side of the clearing, as there probably 

 will be the first year, let the windrows start at the standing timber and run north 

 for about eight rods or thereabouts. Do not build a pile parallel to the standing 

 timber, as it will never dry out properly. When there is once an opening to the 

 south 'of the clearing it is better to let the piles run east and west, as they dry out 

 better. 



Do not pile any brush on logs ; leave the fallen logs clear, for a cedar log 

 would probably burn up, and all the cedar logs are wanted for fencing, draining and 

 buildings, and a fir log is prevented from drying out if brush is piled upon it, and, 

 more important still, brush piled over a big log leaves a hollow alongside the log 

 under the brush, and the brush does not burn well. 



All deciduous trees (and particularly hazel, vine-maple, and willow) 3 inches 

 in diameter or less should be cut right into the ground. The reason for this is that 

 they are sure to sprout more or less the following spring, and if there is 6 or 8 inches 

 of a sharp stump sticking up the cattle cannot brouse on the young shoots, but if 

 cut into the ground the cattle will keep the shoots trimmed down and they will 

 nearly all be killed out by the following fall. Fir, cedar, or hemlock seedlings need 

 not be cut so close, as they do not sprout ; in fact, it is better to leave them 6 or 8 

 inches long, as they are more readily knocked out by the cattle tramping among 

 them. Anything above 3 inches diameter should be cut " stump-high," about 2% 

 feet. Do not cut anything above 10 inches in diameter (as above that, thickness will 

 make good cordwood or railway-ties) , except alder or maple, which should be cut along 

 with the brush. If you are going to live on the place it is a good plan to limb the 

 trunks of the larger alders and maples, cut them in convenient lengths, and instead 

 of piling them on the brush-pile leave them on the ground between the piles, and 

 when the chopping is finished and before you start to burn haul these logs out of 

 the way, cut them into 4-foot lengths, and split them for cordwood for your own 

 use. They should not be allowed to lie on the ground all summer without splitting, 

 or they will be dozy by the fall. 



It is a good plan to leave a few of the larger trees that are to be burnt until 

 the last, and then chop them so that they will fall lengthways over your brush-piles. 



