450 FIRE-CONSERVANCY. 



or less ineffectual. If the circle of fire is too large for a single 

 party, the several parties employed should be distributed so that 

 each section may be fully utilised and none may have to work 

 against the wind. The distribution of the men must be effected 

 with a full knowledge of the ground and the forest, the most being 

 made of neighbouring roads, paths, watercourses, cliffs, traces, 

 belts of evergreen bushes, fringes of canopied forest, &c. Where 

 an impassable watercourse or road is close by, it is obviously waste 

 of money and energy to try and save the narrow strip of grass 

 that intervenes ; and where the fire is likely to spread most, there 

 the main effort should be made ; and so on. As in the case of 

 fire escaping from a trace, the brooms should be used without ces- 

 sation and half the broom-men should be resting while the other 

 half is working with all its might and main. 



Counterfiring requires a still more complete knowledge of the 

 ground, for the absence of this knowledge will not only lead to a 

 wasteful distribution of the men, but may result in portions of the 

 forest being fired that need not have been sacrified at all, and even, 

 in the causing of a new and more extensive conflagration. If a 

 base line from which to counterfire exists in the shape of a clear 

 road or watercourse or trace, or of a belt of evergreen bushes, 

 &c., the grass along the edge of it should be fired as rapidly as 

 possible, the fire being beaten out with brooms wherever it is 

 likely to burn back across the line into the forest on the other side. 

 When no continuous base line exists, the nearest ones, together 

 with any large patches not covered with grass and leaves that may 

 lie in the way, should be connected by check lines cleared as 

 quickly as possible, and to prevent delay the firing party should 

 follow only at a short distance behind. 



Not unfrequently we may combine the two methods of over- 

 coming forest conflagrations, beating out the fire along the wind- 

 struck edge, where the grass does not burn up high, and counter- 

 firing elsewhere. 



It will have been observed that in order to overcome a confla- 

 gration a great number of men are required, generally many more 

 than the available number of patrols (all the patrols cannot obvi- 

 ously absent themselves from their beats) ; and for this reason 

 standing arrangements must be made with neighbouring villages, 

 workmen, squatters and graziers to come out to a fire at the first 

 alarm, full remuneration being of course given when necessary. 

 Every one should be armed with a sickle and a light axe, which 

 tools the patrols themselves should constantly carry about with them, 



