BRUSH DISPOSAL PROBLEM 45 



is very frequently adopted in connection with timber sales by the United 

 States Forest Service in the Western States. It must, however, be re- 

 garded primarily as a fire-protective measure, and where cutting is done 

 in the winter, as in parts of Minnesota and of the Rocky Mountain 

 region of the United States, it has been found entirely practicable to 

 bum the brush as the operation proceeds. The added cost of piling 

 and burning is in part ofEset by the greater ease of skidding. 



Lopping. — The disadvantages of burning brush will, under some 

 conditions, outweigh the advantages, thus rendering some other form 

 of brush disposal desirable. For instance, in the Adirondacks, the burn- 

 ing of brush is considered impracticable, partly on account of cost 

 and partly on account of the great danger of soil fires,' with resultant 

 loss of young and old growth. SUviodtural considerations also enter 

 into the question, and these will be discussed in the course of the en- 

 suing discussion. 



The whole theory of lopping brush is that by this means the debris 

 is brought into much closer contact with the ground, so that it will 

 absorb moisture more readily, dry out less in summer, and decay more 

 rapidly than when propped high above the groimd. If the work is 

 properly done, brush handled in this way largely ceases to be a fire 

 menace in a very few years, and will practically disappear by decay in 

 from one-third to one-half the time required for brush supported off 

 the gro\md, as are unlopped tops under ordinary conditions. Following 

 the lopping operation, piling or scattering is usually advisable, unless 

 the added cost renders this impracticable. 



So far as known, the lopping of tops as a fire-protective measure, 

 either in Evirope or America, was first suggested by Dr. B. E. Femow 

 in 1890. This suggestion was embodied in his report to the Adirondack 

 League Club on a proposed forest policy for the tract of 93,000 acres 

 of virgin timber land in the Adirondack mountains of New York, which 

 had just been purchased for the use of the Club. This tract was pur- 

 chased subject to the reservation of all spruce timber above 12 inches 

 in diameter, without restrictions as to methods of cutting. The follow- 

 ing statement, quoted from Dr. Femow's report* will be of interest in 

 this cormection : 



"The danger and damage from fire is increased wherever 

 lumbering is carried on, especially from the fact that the leavings, 

 tops of trees and limbs, dry rapidly and lend intensity to any 

 running fire. The proper disposal of these leavings should have 

 been considered in your lumber contracts. In the absence of con- 

 ditions to that efEect the Club must dispose of the matter on its 

 own account. 



♦Report of the Chief of the Division of Forestry for 1890, page 221. 

 (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.) 



