1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



357 



A Stand of Pinus merkusii, Zambales 



FIRES. 



The pine region is the natural haunt 

 of the Igorote, who leads a semi- 

 nomadic life, depending largely for his 

 existence on the chase, and not infre- 

 quently owning horses and cattle. In 

 order to secure better pastures or to 

 facilitate hunting, it has been his cus- 

 tom to yearly set fires in the open 

 grass .lands. These fires do not con- 

 fine themselves, however, to the grass 

 areas, but spread through the semi- 

 open into the forest, each year claim- 

 ing additional open space. 

 , The open and burned over areas 

 are most favorable to natural seeding 

 of pine, and where fires have not re- 

 cently occurred we find excellent re- 

 production. If four or five years pass 

 without burning, or when the repro- 

 duction has reached a height of two or 

 three feet, the critical stage seems to 

 have passed. This is due to the close 

 formation having crowded out the 

 rank grass which is ever a menace to 

 reproduction. It happens, in cases, 

 that seeding has been poorly effected, 

 leaving the reproduction to grow in 



open order and consequently exposing 

 it to danger from fire. In the event 

 of fire in the latter case, where the 

 trees have reached a height of three 

 to four feet, a certain portion usually 

 recover. Counts made on such areas 

 show the proportion which survive to 

 average 25 per cent. In the seedling 

 and stages immediately following, the 

 trees can offer no resistance and fires 

 are totally destructive. 



LUMBERING. 



During February, 1903, a Govern- 

 ment reserve was created, which in- 

 cludes forest lands in the vicinity of 

 Baguio, and lumbering thereon ex- 

 cept for Government needs was pro- 

 hibited. 



More than two years ago the Ben- 

 guet Commercial Company installed 

 logging and sawing machinery near 

 Baguio. The plant consists of a port- 

 able engine 25-horsepower, which 

 drives a 50-inch circular saw. The 

 maximum capacity of the mill is 3,000 

 feet, board measure, although the cut 

 averages about 2,000 feet per day. 



