46 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



"It has been urged that the leavings shotdd be gathered and 

 burned. This is expensive and wasteful, and it is my opinion that, 

 at least with the spruce under the conditions before us, it is unneces- 

 sary. The danger arises from the fact that the tops braced up 

 by the branches from the soil are dried and kept dry, like tinder. 

 By lopping the branches and letting both branches and tops fall 

 to the grotmd, it is to be anticipated that the material would be 

 kept wet from the winter snows and soon be rotted. Besides, some 

 useful material for pulp manufacture, which the lumberman 

 would have left, might be saved from this top material. I would 

 at least recommend the trial of this new method. The lopping 

 should be done soon after the felling and it might be possible to 

 make arrangements for this work with the contractor for the 

 lumber." 



On account of financial complications, the contract for lumbering 

 the tract was not carried out, and consequently Dr. Femow's sugges- 

 tions as to top-lopping did not become effective. 



According to Graves, the lopping of tops on an extensive scale 

 was first done in the Adiro'ndacks in lumbering spruce and pine. The 

 plan at first was to cut off only the upper branches of the top. This, 

 however, left the top supported off the grotmd by the lower branches, 

 so that decay was retarded, and the method was modified to include 

 the lopping of the lower branches, so that the stem and brush could 

 rest on the ground, where decay would be rapid. The piles of brush 

 were packed down by the heavy snows of winter, and in this condition 

 absorbed moisture so rapidly thai; the fire danger disappeared to a very 

 large extent within a few years. 



A later development in some tracts was the scattering of the brush 

 in addition to lopping. The best example of this is on Nehasane Park, 

 the estate of Dr. Seward H. Webb. However, the essential degree of 

 care in getting the brush to the ground has not been generally taken 

 on other tracts, and is not required by the State law, though the self- 

 interest of the land owners would seem to dictate that this action be 

 taken, in order that fuU benefit may be derived from the expenditure 

 for lopping which the law requires. The situation in the Adirondacks 

 will be fully discussed in the succeeding section of this report. 



Lopping and Piling. — This is an improvement upon merely lopping 

 the tops, where no especial attention is given to getting the material 

 either directly on the grotmd or in piles resting on the grotmd, and where, 

 consequently, a certain percentage of the brush wiU inevitably become 

 lodged upon stones, stimips or logs and thus be supported off the grdmid, 

 where decay will be greatly retarded. Lopping, followed by either 

 piling or scattering, may be preferable to burning, from silviculttural 

 considerations. In dry situations, as in the yellow pine type of the 

 Rocky Mountain region, and especially of the Southwestern States, 



