PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM FIRE 255 



open and loose piles. This is called "chunking up" the 

 piles. It is very expensive, for it costs as much as the 

 first piling. 



Brush should not be thrown on a top, at least until 

 all branches are trimmed off. Ordinarily, they should 

 be piled away from the top piece of the stem. 



In some instances in the National Forests the practise 

 has been to stake the piles. Sticks are driven into the 

 ground 6 or 8 feet apart, and the limbs are ranked length- 

 wise between them, as shown in Fig. 52. The advantage 

 of this method is that it insures thoroughness of work 

 and a compact pile. It has been proved that it costs 

 much less to burn a staked pile than the ordinary irreg- 

 ular pile, and the area of ground burned over is consid- 

 erably less. This method has been found of especial 

 value when the brush piling has followed the logging. 

 The foreman of the piling crew selects the locations for 

 the piles, drives the stakes, and supervises the work. 

 Organized in this way, the work is done rapidly, and 

 the expense is but little if any more than if the piles 

 are irregular. Any extra expense of the staking is more 

 than offset by saving in the cost of burning. 



The cost of piling brush necessarily varies under 

 different conditions. The first work undertaken in this 

 country cost as high as $1 per thousand feet, log run, of 

 timber cut. This high cost was largely due to lack of 

 knowledge of methods and to the inexperience of labor. 

 With better organization and with trained workmen the 

 cost of piling brush in coniferous forests has been reduced 



