1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



363 



area. There is, therefore, a two-fold 

 object in the regulation of fire on old 

 logged lands. 



As the slash is mixed with valuable 

 young seedlings which have grown 

 through it, general burning is not f ' i- 

 sible, but protection may be be^. 

 brought about by a dual system of fire 

 lines and fire patrol. The fire lines 

 should be laid out at a proportion of 

 about one mile per section, and made 

 to take advantage of all favorable sit- 

 uations. They are not fire lines in 



snould give efficient protection. This 

 system is being worked out for the 

 McCloud River Lumber Company, 

 and is estimated not to cost over three 

 cents per acre for the area protected. 

 (c) The Protection of Laud as it is 

 Logged. It is to the advantage of all 

 to see that the area of dangerous log- 

 ged land shall not be extended. To 

 this end the slash must be burned each 

 season after logging. This burning, 

 however, must be carried on with re- 

 gard to the young growth left stand- 



Fig. 9. Chaparral conquered by yellow pine which originally grew under conditions 



shown in Fig. 1. Fire danger slight. 



the strictest sense of the word, but 

 merely strips three or four hundred 

 feet wide along which all stubs have 

 been removed and all debris burned 

 as clean as possible. They are not cut 

 clean of green brush, but are intended 

 merely as places where a back fire can 

 be set without danger of its running in 

 the wrong direction. 



Such lines should not cost on the 

 average over twelve or fifteen dollars 

 per mile, and, combined with a patrol 



ing. In several parts of the Sierras 

 attempts have been made at slash 

 burning, all of which resulted in the 

 utter destruction of the forest for 

 years to come. Experiments at Mr- 

 Cloud last year showed that by a little 

 more careful falling and swamping, 

 the tops and limbs may be grouped in 

 such a way that most of the debris 

 may be burned without doing great 

 damage to remaining poles and sap- 

 lings. A very small extra expense in 



