1302 



Canadian Forestrij Journal. September, 1917 



What Slash Disposal Means 



I After a logging operation the fire risk is increased from 100 | 



I to 200 per cent. This risk decreases every year, and from 6 to J 



j 10 years becomes normal again, rarely extending to 15 years. j 



I Director of Forest Survey, New Brunswick. I 



I I 



^,1 ,n m, ,1, „„ ,u ,u nn ,-, , „ „ „ „ „ „ m, ,„ „„ „„ „„ „„ ,„ ^^ ^ ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^ £ 



The slash disposal queslion is one 

 that should receive the serious con- 

 sideration of both the loggers and the 

 Department officials. Slash disposal 

 has passed the experimental stage 

 and is being endorsed not only by 

 forest administrators but by the 

 loggers themselves in many locahties. 

 The cost for disposal varies from 25 

 to 40 cents per M., as practiced m 

 Quebec, in similar stands, by lopping. 

 Similar results have Peen secured in 

 northern Saskatchewan. 



In Minnesota slash is piled and 

 burned generally as logging proceeds, 

 and the results are shown from the 

 following section from report of State 

 Forester Cox, 1914: 



"All kinds of slash dj not burn the 

 same, nor does any one kind burn the 

 same under different conditions. 

 Green slash of pure cedar and spruce, 

 for instance, is hard to burn, but, if a 

 fire is started and the green slash piled 

 on, it burns well. Pine slash burns 

 well either in winter or summer. 

 Where the timber is dense and the 

 slash considerable, the expense of 

 burning at the time of logging is very 

 nearly balanced or may even be more 

 than offset by the increased con- 

 venience in skidding. Actual opera- 

 tions have shown that where timber 

 is heavy (150 M. per "40" or greater), 

 slash will be so dense that considerable 

 piling will be necessary before skid- 

 ding can be done, and under these 

 circumstances it would be much 

 cheaper to burn at the time of cutting 

 than to wait until spring. Figures 

 from further operations also show that 

 25 cents is a fair average cost f ( r 

 burning of slash a. time of logging, to 

 say nothing of the increased benefit 

 to skidding and to the operation as a 

 whole. 



"In summarizing conditions gener- 

 ally, the policy has been adopted to 

 enforce winter burning, or very early 

 spring wherever winter burning would 

 entail unreasonable expense." 



His general regulations for spruce 

 and balsam stands are: 



"1. Upland Type. 



Where spruce alone is cut and the 

 stand is mixed with pine or hard- 

 wood, burn the slash as logging 

 proceeds. 



2. Swamp Type. 



Where 40 to 50 per cent of the 

 number of trees remain standing, fire 

 line a strip at least 150 feei wide 

 around entire slashing by burning 

 slash in winter or early spring. If 

 clean cut, pile slash in windrows and 

 burn in early spring. 



3. Any Spruce or Balsam. 

 Where most of spruce or balsam 



^s cut out, but there is considerable 

 t'mber remaining that may be valu- 

 able in the future, pile slash in 

 windrows as logging proceeds and 

 burn in early spring." 



The question is of considerable im- 

 portance, and one which steps should 

 be taken to reduce to a minimum, 

 either by lopping, piling and burning, 

 or by intensive patrol during the 

 danger period. 



(From Report of Department of 

 Lands, Fredericton, N. B.) 



MILLION YEAR-OLD TREE 



A wood specimen found in glacial 

 drift and estimated by the Wisconsin 

 state geologist to be approximately 

 a million years old has been iden+ified 

 by the forest products laboratory of 

 the Forest Service as spruce. 



