﻿60 BULLETIN 13, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



The disposal of slash is important as a preventive measure. The 

 best time to destroy brush or debris is while logging is in progress. 

 With the aid of one extra swamper the burning of brush can be cheaply 

 and effectively done by the logging crew. The best time to burn brush 

 is during a wet season, preferably in winter when snow is on the 

 ground. The cost of burning depends upon the character of the stand 

 and the cost and efficiency of labor. Wide-topped trees, the type 

 known as " cabbage pines," have heavy crowns and large limbs, which 

 cost more per thousand board feet to burn than the brush from smaller 

 crowned trees grown in pure, fully stocked stands. In mixed stands 

 of white pine and other species, the burning of white-pine slash is more 

 expensive than in pure stands. In mixed stands of red and white 

 pine, in the Lake States, brush has been disposed of while the logging 

 is in progress for 12 cents per thousand board feet. In many cases, 

 however, it will cost much more than this. 



When logging is done in a dry season the brush should be piled when 

 the trees are cut, but not burned until moister conditions prevail. In 

 piling, the tops should be thrown to the center of the piles and the 

 smaller branches placed at the bottom, with successively larger mate- 

 rial laid above. This makes a compact pile, easy to burn. The size 

 of the piles will depend upon the amount of material to be disposed of 

 and the available space. Small piles are safer than large ones, a con- 

 venient size being 10 feet across and 6 feet high. The piles should not 

 be within 20 feet of standing trees or placed in a way to obstruct the 

 skidding of logs. In general, the cost of piling and burning white- 

 pine slash will probably range from 25 to 50 cents per thousand bOard 

 feet of lumber cut. 



The slash should not be burned in windrows, since unless the 

 weather and moisture conditions are favorable there is danger of start- 

 ing a general conflagration. Often, moreover, the windrows cover a 

 large percentage of the total area, and when they are burned the 

 greater part of the seed which has fallen during logging will be 

 destroyed. 



While the scattering of slash is not advisable where there is danger 

 from fire, it may, wherever conditions permit, be made to serve an 

 important function by protecting the soil and small seedlings from 

 drought and frost. In scattering slash, however, no tops should be 

 left propped up on the ground by their side branches. All branches 

 should be lopped and the brush made to lie flat on the ground. In 

 close stands, where burning is impracticable, scattering is the best 

 means of disposing of slash. It is also perhaps the best method in 

 moist situations where the branches will decay rapidly. 



For the prevention of fire on comparatively small tracts a simple 

 system of fire fines, supplemented by patrol at intervals during the 

 danger season, is probably sufficient. On large tracts a system 



