SHOULD TRACES BE CLEARED OP ALL WOODY GROWTH ? 431 



of the trace by means of a trench. Such a trench, if wide enough, 

 may render unnecessary the clearing of a regular guide line, the 

 precaution being taken either to beat down the grass along the 

 inside edge or to cut it over in a narrow strip just sufficient to form 

 a dry, easily inflammable cushion and supply torch material. The- 

 trench will of course require to be kept up, but the cost of its 

 maintenance added to its initial cost with interest, will, if duo 

 judgment has been exercised, never equal the outlay on clearing 

 regular guide lines every year. 



2. Should fire-traces be cleared of trees and shrubs- ? 



In favour of keeping fire-traces free of woody vegetation it must 

 be admitted that if they are so cleared, the grass and other her- 

 baceous growth on them, owing to frost or drought or earlier seed- 

 lug, &c v will die and dry up everywhere sooner and more uni- 

 formly than in the adjoining forest-covered area on either side, 

 and thus facilitate their firing and minimise, if not entirely remove, 

 the risks attending that operation. Moreover, on a completely 

 cleared trace the grass will come up more abundantly and uni- 

 formly and hence get entirely burnt off, instead of being left un- 

 consumed in patches, in the vicinity of bushes, whenever a steady 

 breeze has been wanting during the firing. When such patches 

 are left, the least that requires to be done is to fire the trace a 

 second and even a third time, and in the meantime the connection 

 maintained by them between the forests on either side is a con- 

 stantly threatening element of danger. 



But if the arguments in favour of clearing fire-traces of all 

 woody growth are great and incontestable, on the other hand three 

 very important considerations may, and often do, militate against 

 its being carried out : firstly, the great cost of such an operation, 

 since all stools, woody rhizomes and sucker-producing roots have 

 to be grubbed out or otherwise the annual coppice must be cut 

 down every year with infinite labour during the growing season ; 

 secondly, the immense sacrifice of forest growth involved, if the 

 traces are at]all wide ; and, thirdly, the far greater obstacles to easy 

 and quick firing offered by the abundant bushy growth that must 

 soon come up from seed and often even from the roots of felled or 

 adjoining standing trees. Moreover such open lines might give 

 ingress to dangerous winds. Besides this, as will be seen from tin; 

 next Article, whether the traces are cleared or not, it will seldom, 



