LOGGING PRACTICE IN THE LAKE STATES 25 
(4) Fires are easily controlled and do little or no damage to any 
standing timber and young growth on the land. 
(5) Progressive burning destroys less of the soil humus and vege- 
table matter than any other method of burning. 
(6) It saves logs that would otherwise be left in the woods. 
LOPPING OF TOPS WITHOUT BURNING 
The method of lopping of tops without burning is used in hard- 
wood cuttings on the Minnesota National Forest and also by some 
hardwood timber operators in Wisconsin. It is a satisfactory 
method where utilization is close and where effective patrol is pro- 
vided to prevent fire during the years immediately following. It 
has also the advantage of conserving the humus, especially on thin 
or rocky soils. 
EXAMPLES OF SLASH DISPOSAL 
Below are given actual instances of slash disposal—the method 
used, the cost, and the results obtained. 
IN HARDWOOD FORESTS 
On a timber operation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan pro- 
gressive piling and burning was tried. The branches and tops under 
3 inches in diameter were piled and burned as logging progressed. 
To accomplish this to the best advantage, a crew of swampers fol- 
lowed the falling crews, lopping the tops and piling and burning 
the slash as they went. The result was easy skidding and a cut-over 
area free from the hazard of ordinary logging slash. 
Since by this method most of the slash is burned in the winter 
when there is snow on the ground, or in the summer when the woods 
are green, there has been very little damage done to standing trees 
or to advance reproduction. In the spring and fall, however, fire 
is inclined to run, and at times it has been found necessary to dis- 
continue burning in these seasons. According to the foreman, no 
difficulty is experienced in burning slash green or in the winter, 
once a fire is started. The practice of burning as the slash is piled 
materially reduces the number of brush piles and consequently the 
area burned over. Burning on the snow also helps to minimize the 
damage, as the ground is often scarcely charred—a strong argument 
for winter burning. 
While progressive piling and burning the slash does not make a 
cut-over area fireproof, it makes fire control easier and insures the 
prompt reestablishment of a forest cover. The latter is strikingly 
brought out by a comparison between an area on which slash has 
been piled and burned at the time of logging and an adjoining area 
cut over shortly before and left to burn off in the usual manner. 
The slash hazard on the two areas at the present time is practically 
the same, as is also the amount of timber left standing on each. On 
the area on which the slash was left to burn off, however, nearly 
every tree left standing has been killed, and except for a little 
scattered sprout growth the area is a tangle of weeds and grass. 
On the adjoining area where the slash has been piled and burned, 
the trees left standing are alive and thrifty, and an excellent stand 
73098 °—28——4. 
