PREVENTION OF ENTRANCE OF FIRE FROM OUTRIDE. 423 



alwve 4,000 feet more or less, and perhaps in very damp climates 

 also. Even in the south of France they fail to stop fire unless 

 the ground below is kept clear of bushes and dead leaves. Under 

 any circumstances, their employment cannot bo generalised in 

 India. In the first place, the species used would have to be ever- 

 green ; in the second place, the soil along by far the greater 

 portion of the boundary of our forests would be found unsuitable 

 for the growth of such species ; and, in the third place, the cost of 

 raising and maintaining such belts, except they were formed of 

 valuable fruit trees, which would bear very little unless planted 

 so far apart as to be unable to suppress a growth of grass and an- 

 nual weeds, would be entirely prohibitive. 



(7) Lines of sufficient width cleared of all combustible matter. 

 The clearing may be effected either (i) by cultivating the soil and 

 raising field crops thereon, or (ii) if possible, by allowing the 

 grass to be browsed down to the roots, or ^iii) by having the grass 

 cut as close to the ground as possible, or (iv) by means of fire. The 

 first method is of course possible only in the neighbourhood of 

 population, where the soil is suitable for permanent cultivation aiid 

 is clear of trees : it not only costs nothing, but may in most 

 cases return some revenue, and should, therefore, be adopted 

 wherever the required conditions exist. For the second method 

 to be feasible it is necessary that all the grass should belong to 

 fodder-yielding species and that the cattle should be sufficiently 

 under control not to stray beyond the limits fixed for them. The 

 system is capable of generalisation round the stone-fenced reserved 

 forests of Ajmir and Merwara, where pastures are limited. The 

 high cost of cutting all the grass close to the ground renders the 

 third method impracticable except where the entire, or all but en- 

 tire, crop is suited for haymaking or thatching, and there is a ready 

 demand for such grass. When the village population are accus- 

 tomed to lay by a store of hay for the six or eight months of the 

 dry season, it is often possible to have several mile^ of line cleared 

 in this manner in return merely for the free gift of the grass. 

 The fourth and last method is the one of most general application. 

 Indeed, there is scarely a single forest requiring protection from 

 fire, in which at least nine-tenths of the lines have not to be clear- 

 ed in this manner in order to secure the necessary economy of 

 time, money and labour. A line cleared thus is called a fire-line 

 or fire-trace. From the latter term we obtain the verb to fire-trace 

 and its derivatives. Fire-tracing is an art in itself and will be 

 treated separately in detail in Article 3. 



