Canadian Forestry Journal, April, 1917 



1063 



Ridding ''Slash" From Western Lands 



Experience Proves that Lumber Operator Should 

 , Burn Debris at Time of Cutting. 



Pile and 



By R. H. Campbell, Dominion Director of Forestry 



In dealing with the protection from 

 fire of the forests in the western pro- 

 vinces one of the things that forced 

 itself on the attention of the Forestry 

 Branch was the great quantity of dead 

 material lying on the ground, partly 

 as a result of fire and partly as a re- 

 sult of lumbering operations. This 

 debris formed a serious menace and 

 the conclusion was finally come to 

 that an effort must be made to try 

 and have all the debris of lumbering 

 operations disposed of in some way 

 to prevent this danger and to bring 

 about the conditions of safety which 

 are found in the European 

 ' forests generally. Having ob- 

 tained all the information possible 

 from other places where brush dis- 

 posal had been carried on as to cost 

 and feasibility, a start was made 

 on some of the forest reserves in 

 Saskatchewan in the disposal of the 

 brush from logging of jack pine tim- 

 ber. This was on small tracts in 

 somewhat open and even aged stands 

 without very heavy brush and on 

 sandy land where the fire would not 

 run very easily. The brush was piled 

 as the operations went on and was 

 burned later, and the results in clear- 

 ing the land and removing the fire 

 danger have been very satisfactory. 



Tried Out on Spruce Lands 



Having found that this plan would 

 work satisfactorily on jack pine lands 

 it was decided to make a trial on 

 ' spruce lands. A trial was therefore 

 made on several small operations on 

 the Riding and Duck Mountains in 

 Manitoba and elsewhere. Spruce 

 presents more difficulties than jack- 

 pine inasmuch as the brush is heavier 

 and the condition of the forest soil is 

 not so satisfactory for burning. The 



covering of leaves, moss and other 

 material on the forest floor under 

 spruce is a dangerous carrier of fire 

 and there is always a possibility of 

 trouble arising from fire getting away 

 in such a soil condition. However, 

 the experiment was made on several 

 operations in spruce with the result 

 that it was found that both the piling 

 and the burning of the brush could 

 be carried on satisfactorily. In the 

 first place the operators were required 

 to pile the brush while the burning 

 was done by the forest rangers, but 

 further experiment has demonstrated 

 that the a)hole of the work can be done 

 by the operator and, moreover, experi- 

 menting with the burning of brush 

 immediately after the trees have been 

 cut down has proved that the work can 

 be done most satisfactorily and safely 

 in this way. This system is there- 

 fore being adopted in all operations 

 in the future, By this system a small 

 fire is started and the brush is thrown 

 on it as it is lopped from the fallen 

 tree, and is consumed immediately. 

 No serious difficult}^ in the burning 

 of brush in this way has been ex- 

 perienced although it has been tried 

 under almost all possible conditions 

 of cold and snow. 



25 to 75 Cents Cost 



The cost of the brush disposal, so 

 far as it has been possible to arrive 

 at a figure, varies from twenty-five 

 to seventy-five cents per thousand 

 feet, board measure. The variation 

 is not due mainly to the character of 

 t^he forest but more to the experience 

 and efficiency of the men who are 

 handling the work. Where the opera- 

 tor has gone at the work with the in- 

 tention of getting it done immediately 

 and thoroughly the cost has, as his 



