422 FIRE-CONSERVANCY. 



selves under three main heads as follows : 



I. Measures for preventing fire from entering from outside ; 



II. Measures for preventing fire from spreading from one part 

 of the forest to another ; and 



III. Police, and putting out conflagrations which it has not 

 been possible to prevent. 



ARTICLE 1. 

 PREVENTION OF ENTRANCE OF FIRE FROM OUTSIDE. 



The measures for preventing the ingress of fire from outside 

 must naturally vary with the conditions described in Section II, 

 and with the condition of the surrounding country. If the land is 

 cultivated right up to the edge of the forest, then it is obvious 

 that no conflagration could possibly occur immediately outside the 

 forest and there would be no danger to it except at the hands of 

 incendiaries or through sheer wanton carelessness on the part of 

 the cultivators. Again the grass outside may be browsed down so 

 close to the ground as to leave nothing to burn. Excepting these 

 two cases, in which an outside fire would be impossible, fire-breaks 

 of some kind are absolutely necessary to effectually stop the fur- 

 ther progress of a conflagration approaching the forest. 



A fire-break, which may be either natural or artificial, or a 

 natural one rendered more effective by the forester, may be 



(1) A stream wide enough and sufficiently free of grass and 

 other combustible matter to prevent the passage of fire. Accord- 

 ing to the prevailing conditions the minimum width of the stream 

 need be only a few feet or may have to be several hundred yards. 



(2) A sufficiently wide belt of swampy ground, the vegetation 

 on which can never burn. 



(3) A sufficiently wide and dense belt of some evergreen shrub, 

 like Adhatoda Yasica, the prickly pear, &c., which grows close 

 enough at the base to prevent grass from springing up in its midst. 

 An advancing conflagration will generally burn some distance 

 into the belt, but with constantly diminishing force until it quite 

 goes out. 



(4) A sheer clift, the forest to be saved being on the upper 

 side. 



(5) A road. In most parts of India, however, the widest road 

 would be too narrow to stop a fire. 



(6) A close-planted belt of broad-leaved trees, which remain in 

 full leaf throughout the season during which fires can occur. Such 

 belts can be really effective only in the Himalayas at altitudes 



