S8rTS 



The Kennebec Drive 

 BURNING BRUSH PILES. 



BY HENRY S. GRAVES, FORESTER, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



An excellent time for burning brush is after the first snow of 

 winter. This is usually a light fall, and the snow does not penetrate 

 the compact piles of brush sufficiently to prevent burning. There 

 is no danger of the fire running on the ground, and the branches of 

 the standing trees are so damp as to prevent injury by the rising flames. 

 If the brush is burned before winter, it should be only during damp 

 weather, when the ground is so wet that fire will not run easily. 



When large areas of piled brush are to be burned the work should 

 be organized with care. It should never be undertaken when there is a 

 strong wind, and the best time is in calm weather. If there is any wind, 

 the burning should begin with the piles on the lee side. Several piles 

 may be fired at one time, but they should be some distance apart, with 

 one or more unburnt piles between them. When the first fires have 

 been burned down to coals, the intermediate piles may be ignited. This 

 alternating method of burning the piles prevents the injury to trees 

 and young growth between the piles that might result from the collective 

 volume of heat of adjacent fires. Just as the brush on level ground is 

 burned against the wind, so, on a hillside, the piles near the top are 

 burned first, and the work progresses down the slope. 



Whenever large areas of piled brush are to be burned, a sufficient 

 force of men, equipped with fire fighting implements, should always be 

 present to insure that the fire will not get beyond control. In some 

 instances, when brush is piled in the winter during logging and left for 

 later burning, the piles become very wet from the snow and rain and do 

 not dry out till late spring or summer, a time when burning on a large 



