TOP-LOPPING IN THE ADIRONDACKS 67 



brush is thrown aside to make room for the construction of skid- 

 roads without any thought as to the imderlying theory of the top- 

 lopping law, or any intelligent desire to secure the fullest possible 

 benefit from the expense which the enforced observance of the law 

 entails. 



The partial failure of top-lopping to accompUsh its object on ac- 

 coimt of this neglect is particularly noticeable in the case of single 

 branches of small piles. When these are supported off the ground. by 

 falling across stones, stumps or logs, the effect is practically the same 

 as though they were supported in the air by the stem to which they 

 were originally attached, and decay is relatively slow. 



On the other hand, large piles of brush, even though supported 

 above the ground by resting on stones, stimips, or logs, or in any other 

 way, gradually settle down through the weight of recurring snows, 

 and quickly become sufficiently compact to hold moisture, thus facilitat- 

 ing the process of decay. This process is more rapid in a mixed forest 

 than in one of pure spruce and balsam, since the fall of leaves from the 

 trees of hardwood or broadleaved species, quickly covers the tops of the 

 brush piles, preventing the sifting of the snow among the branches. 

 Thus, the weight of snow on top of the piles is greatly increased, 

 causing the finer branches on the interior of the piles to come into suffi- 

 ciently close contact, so that they can retain a portion of the moisture 

 which will necessarily trickle through from above. In this way is 

 supplied the element, which in addition to heat and air is essential to 

 the growth of the fungus, the development of which constitutes the pro- 

 cess of decay. Where pUes of brush rest on the ground, moisture is 

 available from below, as well as from above, so it follows logically that, 

 imder these conditions, decay will be most rapid. 



It is universally recognized in other connections that the conditions 

 essential to decay — the presence of heat, moistiue and air, — are found 

 in most favourable combination at the siurface of thcgrotmd rather than 

 above or below the stuface. Fence posts and telegraph poles decay 

 most quickly where they enter the ground. Fuel, pulpwood, and saw- 

 logs are always raised off the ground by skids in order to prevent decay 

 at the bottom, if they are to remain in the woods for any length of time. 

 The woods operator always gets his logging sleighs off the ground 

 during the season of the year they are not in use, his object being to 

 prevent decay of the wood-work and consequent loss of strength. The 

 application of this general principle to brush disposal is just as com- 

 plete as in any other connection, and it seems almost inconceivable 

 that such an objection could have been seriously advanced in connection 

 with the top-lopping law. 



