162 THE PROTECTION OF WOODLANDS. 



shrubs. And a railway company exercising such powers must 

 pay full compensation to any person injuriously affected by their 

 exercise, including compensation for loss of amenity. 



Fire-Prevention. All workmen employed in burning heath, 

 turf, or bark should be warned to exercise great caution in using 

 fire, and should be well supervised to see that proper care is 

 taken. Green lanes should be kept free of long dry grass, 

 and woodland paths clear of inflammable matter ; and smoking 

 should not be allowed in the woods (especially in April and 

 August). 



Where railways run through woodlands, naked strips of 

 ground parallel to them on each side should be planted with 

 wide belts of broad-leaved trees (e.g., Birch or Robinia in Scots 

 Pine tracts), whose foliage would intercept sparks, while below 

 the trees the ground should be swept with stable -brooms or 

 scrub-besoms and kept free of dead foliage, &c., for a breadth 

 of about 20 yards ; or the Birch and Robinia should be under- 

 planted with Sweet-Chestnut, or whatever else will grow as 

 underwood, and kept as thick as possible, and such coppice 

 separated from the woods behind by a good broad road kept 

 free of inflammable material. In Conifer woods, where danger 

 from fire is always greatest, the whole area should be divided 

 into compartments by narrow rides kept free of inflammable 

 matter. Such rides will usually stop a ground-fire ; and in case 

 of a crown-fire they are convenient bases for beginning opera- 

 tions to check the spread of the fire into other compartments. 

 These rides should run at right angles to the prevailing winds, 

 or generally from K to S., X.E. to S.W., or N.W. to S.E., 

 and should be planted with a belt or fringe of some broad- 

 leaved tree, Birch being the most suitable tree on poor sandy 

 soil. 



Fire-Extinction. A ground-fire is often easily extinguished, 

 if seen in time ; but once it spreads, extinction is more difficult. 

 Hence no time should be lost in trying to put out any fire dis- 



