58 COMMISSI0N OF CONSERVATION 



The rules to follow apply in each case especially to the types and 

 species named therein : 



(7) "Where cutting operations are being carried on in spruce 

 or cedar timber, the branches should be lopped separately from the 

 unused tops, so that every one lies flat on the ground." One reason 

 for this method of procedure is that these species grow largely in 

 swamps, ordinarily more moist than the uplands ; hence, decay 

 there is more rapid. The branches lying on the ground are imi- 

 formly damp in summer. They are not so pitchy, and rot more 

 quickly than pine, and are therefore not so dangerous. If the large 

 tops commonly to be fotmd in spruce and cedar cutting, held high 

 from the ground by their branches, are left intact, they dry out, 

 remain for years, and fire wiU sweep through them readily. Usual- 

 ly, in spruce and cedar forests there are large numbers of yoxing 

 healthy trees, too small to be merchantable, which often stand 

 very closely together after the larger timber has been removed. 

 It is the policy of the Service to protect such young valuable timber. 

 Piling and burning of the brush could not, in the majority of swamps 

 be carried on without serious injury to it. Fvurthermore, if burning 

 were required, and was not done in the winter, there would be a 

 probability of the fires getting into combustible peat soil on which 

 spruce and cedar often grow. Other things being equal, another 

 reason why lopping is more advisable than burning in the treatment 

 of these forms of slash (even on spruce on high land) is that piling 

 and btuning is relatively more expensive than in pine timber. 

 The reason is that there is a greater proportion of branches in com- 

 parison to merchantable timber resulting from operations in spruce 

 and cedar than in pine. Hence, it is cheaper to merely lop the 

 branches than to lop, pile and bum. The relative efficiency of two 

 possible methods of disposing of a given area of a slash being equal 

 it is the policy of the Service to require the use of the cheaper 

 method. Since lopping in these species (spruce and cedar) is as 

 effective in removing the fire danger as is piling and burning, and 

 since other considerations render lopping the more advisable, the 

 latter is the method usually required. A very considerable ob- 

 stacle in the way of securing proper lopping is the fact that much 

 of the spruce pvdpwood, and cedar tie, post and pole operations, are 

 carried on upon a piece-work basis ; that is, laborers are paid a 

 flat rate per cord in pulpwood, and per piece in the cedar operations. 

 They pay their own board, furnish their own tools, and are at 

 liberty to do as much, and to a certain extent, as Uttle work in a 

 day as they wish. Consequently, any work which tends to cut 

 down the number of cords or pieces which a piece worker can turn 

 out in a day, and for which he is not especially paid, is avoided 

 wherever possible. Heretofore, no provision has been made to 

 allow of paying of piece-workers for lopping. Until some method 

 is evolved by which this obstacle can be overcome, such as increasing 

 the rates paid per piece, it is a difficult matter to secure thorough 

 observance of "the lopping requirements. In the meantime, it has 

 in some instances been found necessary to allow operators to con- 

 struct a safe fire-break, not less than 150 feet in width, around the 



