1064 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April, 1917 



men become experienced, come down 

 to the smaller figure. Where the 

 operator has gone at it with the idea 

 of showing that it could not be done, 

 the costs have been fairly high and 

 have not been reduced later, with 

 corresponding loss to the operator, 

 as a result. On the whole the opera- 

 tors are satisfied that the burning of 

 brush is a proper measure of pro- 

 tection to require and some of them 

 have gone so far as to state that the 

 disposal of the brush immediately as 

 operations are going on has made 

 the cost of disposal to them prac- 

 tically nothing as it has greatly fa- 

 cilitated the logging operations by 

 having the brush out of the way. 



The experience which we have had 

 satisfies us that the brush can be dis- 

 posed of satisfactorily and at a rea- 

 sonable cost and that its disposal 

 greatly reduces the fire hazard, and 

 it is the intention to continue to 

 develop that policy. It must be ad- 

 mitted however tliat our experience 

 so far is on comparatively small areas 

 and with small operations, and that 

 it does not settle the ciuestion as to 

 what methods should be followed in 

 all cases. It is clear however that 

 the system of brush disposal is a 

 feasible one and that experimental 

 work should be carried out without 

 delay wherever lumbering operations 

 are being carried on. 



COST OF SLASH DISPOSAL 



By W. T. Cox, .State Forester of 

 Minnesota. 



The cost of slash disposal work to 

 the timber operators of the state aver- 

 ages about ten cents per thousand 

 feet of timber cut. ConsicTering that 

 there are about three billion feet of 

 timber taken from the woods of Min- 

 nesota each year, slash disposal costs 

 about $300,000.00. This explains the 

 fact, that some of the more short- 

 sighted lumbermen oppose the work 

 of the Forest Service, but to the 

 credit of the lumbermen in general it 

 must be said that many of them are 

 good enough citizens and good enough 

 business men to see that this invest- 

 ment of theirs in fire prevention is 

 well worth while in more than one 



way. The lumber companies pay not 

 only the cost of slash disposal, but 

 when fires occur, they furnish, on the 

 ranger's request, big crews of men to 

 fight the fires free of cost. This ex- 

 pense also runs into a great many 

 thousand dollars a year. 



IDEAS! 



+._„_. — „_„_.„_.._.„ .. .._„_„_.4. 



"Ideas do not take hold in 

 proportion to their goodness," 

 said the Editor of the Saturday 

 Evening Post lately; "They take 

 hold in proportion to the steam 

 behind them." 



Has the reason for the existence 

 of independent means of campaigning 

 for forest conservation been better 

 expressed? Some share of knowledge 

 of Canada's shortcomings in forest 

 protection and scientific management 

 of timber crops is possessed by most 

 members of provincial and federal 

 governments. The 'idea' in itself is 

 commended with enthusiasm. In 

 the abstract it forms a common meet- 

 ing place. But in practice, it seldom 

 gets anywhere without the tireless 

 aid of the private propagandist. 

 Until all Governments possess ad- 

 visory boards and put statesmanship 

 above 'practical' politics the quickest 

 and most effective way to get an idea 

 adopted is to commence at the out- 

 side of the ring and construct a band 

 of public opinion that sooner or later 

 will prove politically irrestible. 



One must not apply this formula in 

 Canada too severely. Examples are 

 by no means lacking where provincial 

 and federal ministers have given effect 

 to progressive ideas in forest conser- 

 vation on the basis of personal judg- 

 ment of their value. Such institu- 

 tions as the Forest Products Labora- 

 tories at Montreal were not con- 

 structed because of political pressure 

 but as an act of wise statesmanship. 

 Many instances in the provincial 

 fields illustrate the same point. It 

 remains generally true, however, that 

 in the United States and Canada ideas 

 take hold, not in proportion to their 

 goodness, but in proportion to the 

 steam behind them. 



