Canadian Foreslry Journal, December, 1917 



144") 



of the pony trucks there is a sprinkler 

 that is used as a ])rotection for the 

 ties. The engine carries a supply of 

 fuel oil and can cover from 15 to 20 

 miles a day depending on the 



density of the vegetation. 



A somewhat similar contrivance 

 has been in use on the Canadian 

 Northern western lines. 



Logging Debris — An Imperative Problem 



By Ellwood Wilson 

 Forester of the Laurentide Company, Grand Mere, P. Q. 



The next step in forestry progress 

 in Canada will probably be inward 

 the better disposal of logging debrLs. 

 With the advent of co-operative fire 

 protective associations and the con- 

 sequent great improvement in the 

 forest fire situation and the greater 

 knowledge of the causes of fires and 

 the means for their prevention, it is 

 being realized that could we econ- 

 omically and practically do away 

 with the slash from logging opera- 

 tions, one of the most serious of the 

 remaining causes of forest fires would 

 be ehminated. A fire once started 

 in a logging slash is practically im- 

 possible to extinguish until it reaches 

 an unlogged section or some other 

 barrier. The uncut forest, except in 

 exceptionally dry seasons, does not 

 catch fire readily and the fire, if dis- 

 covered soon enough, is comparative- 

 ly easy to put out. In looking over 

 a map of the St. Maurice Valley 

 showing the burnt areas, one sees 

 right away that nearly all the fires 

 have followed logging operations, 

 showing that the debris is a great 

 menace. 



Top Lopping 



Lopping the tops in our spruce and 

 balsam operations has been proved 

 by actual experiment to cost prac- 

 tically as much as brush burning, 

 and it is only a half-way measure. 

 Where the tops are lopped they rot 

 sooner, but for the first year or two 

 are almost as dangerous as unlopped 

 tops, and fires originating in such 

 areas are almost as difficult to ex- 

 tinguish. Burnirig the debris is per- 

 fectly feasible, evcen with several feet 



of snow on the ground, and is very 

 easy in soft wood operations. For 

 two winters, the Forestry Depart- 

 raanl of the Laurentide Companv has 

 been cutting hardwood and all of th^ 

 debris has been ];urnt without diffi- 

 culty. The claim that ilie additional 

 cost is too great might possibly be 

 true if only one operator burnt his 

 brush, but if such disposal were made 

 compulsory by law, all operators 

 would be on the same footing, and 

 it would be no hardship. 



A Misleading Idea 

 The claim that has often been 

 made that it is cheaper to spend more 

 for fire protection, instead of burning 

 brush, is plausible but fallacious. 

 Even by putting on many more 

 rangers, it is very difficult to keep 

 fires out of slash, and once started, 

 the remaining timber is almost cer- 

 tain to be ruined before the fire is 

 put out. Our dependence for the 

 future is entirely on the uncut forest 

 and the cut-over areas, on which 

 trees below a certain diameter limit 

 and the young growth are left and 

 these must be thoroughly protected. 

 The whole subject is being carefully 

 studied and as fast as the owners of 

 timber lands can be brought to see 

 the necessity of absolute fire pro- 

 tection some practicable law will be 

 formulated. 



The first Pennsylvanian to really 

 appreciate the value of fcrests was 

 William Penn himself. In 1681 he 

 provided that for every five acres 

 cleared in Pennsylvania, one acre 

 should be left in woods. 



