44 COMMISSION OP CONSERVATION 



timber on the Biltmore Estate, North Carolina, at a price of approxi- 

 mately $12 per acre, the ownership of the land being reserved. The 

 removal of the timber' is to take place within 20 years, diameter limits 

 for cutting the various species are prescribed, and provision is made 

 for the piling and burning of brush resulting from cutting operations. 

 The latter measure is adopted principally as a fire-protective precaution. 

 Methods of Disposal. — So far as possible, brush disposal should keep 

 pace with logging. Deep snow may, however, make this impracticable. 

 In case of summer operations, where there is danger of fire spreading; 

 the brush should be piled as the operation proceeds, leaving the burning 

 to be done at a safe time later, as after a rain or a light faU. of snow. 



Under some conditions, sufficient protection from fire may be secur- 

 ed by the burning of brush so as to form broad fire lines, particularly 

 along railways or wagon roads, laid out in such a manner as to do the 

 least injury to young growth. The necessity for general burning is 

 decreased if an efficient system of patrol is provided. 



There are four general methods of brush disposal, which are more 

 or less closely related. These are : (i) Burning ; (2) Lopping ; (3) 

 Lopping and piling ; (4) Lopping and scattering. 



Burning. — This may be either broadcast, or following lopping and 

 piling. In the Coast type of the Pacific Northwest, broadcast burning 

 has been found most practicable under certain conditions. This 

 applies to sections where the stand is very heavy and the trees are prac- 

 tically all mature, so that the operation amotmts to a clear-cutting, 

 with practically no yoimg growth left worth the extra cost of protection. 

 The slash is left scattered as in old-style lumbering operations and is 

 often 4 or 5 feet deep all over the grotmd. An efficient fire line is 

 made around the slashing by the removal of all inflammable material 

 on a wide strip. The tract is then btimed off, but in ord6r to ensure a 

 clean bum and at the same time avoid danger of the fire spreading 

 beyond control, and into green timber, it is necessary to employ men 

 thoroughly experienced in this line of work, and great care must be 

 used in selecting the time for burning. This procedure results in expos- 

 ing the mineral soil, thus facilitating the reproduction of Douglas fir, 

 which species is considered of superior desirability. Broadcast burning 

 can be done at a much lower cost than piling and burning. It is reported 

 that under favourable conditions this work can be done for as little as 

 25 cents per acre. Probably, however, in most cases, it will cost from 

 S to 10 cents for each thousand feet of timber cut. 



Piling and burning are indicated for sections where the cutting is 

 not clean and where, as a result, the remaining young growth of mature 

 or semi-mature timber must be protected and the fire danger is so 

 great as to require the elimination of the slash menace. This method 



