234 - SLASH DISPOSAL 



one hundred thousand feet board measure per acre or in 

 regions of open forests not subject to crown fires. The maxi- 

 mum of a dollar ought not to be required, except where in 

 small timber a method of piling and burning at different times 

 was conducted in a most thorough manner or where lopping 

 with careful scattering was employed. 



The average costs of slash disposal fall between lo and 50 

 cents per thousand feet board measure. Cox ^^ gives the 

 average cost of slash disposal in the state of Minnesota as 

 10 cents per thousand feet of timber cut. This amounts to 

 an approximate annual expenditure of $300,000 on a basis of 

 three billion feet cut yearly. Hirst ^^ estimated in 1916 that 

 for the small sized timber in the rough country of northern 

 New England slash disposal would not average less than 50 

 cents per thousand board feet. 



On individual operations where costs go much higher, it is 

 advisable to investigate the efficiency of the labor or to seek 

 other ways (either of slash disposal or along entirely different 

 lines) of accomphshing the desired silvicultural result. 



Mason ^^ suggests that in lodgepole pine stands properly 

 regulated grazing may obviate the need of expenditures for 

 slash disposal. Koch ^^' ^^ has favored extra patrol on cut- 

 over areas as a substitute for more expensive slash disposal. 

 The following quotation from the Report for 19 19 of the 

 Minnesota State Forestry Board ^^ is pertinent. 



"In some cases where the timber still standing is of excep- 

 tional value, owners have been permitted to substitute three 

 years of adequate patrol for brush burning." 



A present expenditure of several dollars per acre for treat- 

 ment of slash may be fully justified by the saving of losses 

 which, if slash disposal were omitted, might be incurred. In 

 this connection Hopping,^ discussing conditions in California, 

 says: "No matter what the species of tree the slash resulted 



