CHAPARRAL. 4] 
may reach the scene of a fire, and is a line of vantage where a stand 
may be made to back-fire. Fire lines in the chaparral vary in width 
from 6 to 60 feet, and cost from $100 to $200 per mile. They are 
cleared of inflammable material at intervals of two years, at a cost 
of from $50 to $75 per mile. In some cases goats have been intro- 
duced to browse along and near the lines in order to keep them clear. 
Water is so scarce in southern California that, in fighting fires, 
substitutes for it must be found. Gunny sacks, preferably damp, 
are used to beat out a blaze, or sand is shoveled upon it. If time 
permits, a special fire line may be cleared through the chaparral. 
Usually a fire, as it advances uphill, is attacked on both wings, and 
eradually the fire fighting crews come together, squeezing the fire 
out between them. It is difficult and usually dangerous to get di- 
rectly in the path of a chaparral fire, and this is seldom done unless 
the intention is to back-fire, or to take up a stand at the summit 
of a hill or on a fire line. 
Besides the Federal statutes and regulations regarding fire, the 
laws of the State of California provide for a State forester and fire 
wardens, for fire patrol in brush and forest lands at the expense 
of the counties, for cutting fire lines and trails, and for posting 
warning notices. In addition, the State laws forbid: (1) The use of 
fire in the dry season, from May 15 to the first soaking rains of 
autumn or winter, except with the written permission or under the 
direction of a fire warden; (2) the willful, malicious, or negligent 
setting of fire to one’s own woods, or permitting a fire to extend 
beyond one’s own land; (38) the leaving of fires unextinguished ; 
(4) the setting of fires, either willfully or accidentally, unless back- 
fires to prevent the spread of flames; (5) the use of logging locomo- 
tives which burn fuel other than oil, or which are not provided with 
spark arresters and ash pans. Residents of the State living in the 
vicinity of a fire, who are liable to the road ‘poll tax, may be called 
upon to assist in extinguishing it. They may be impressed into 
service for not over five days in any one year. 
RESTOCKING AFTER FIRES. 
The opinion is often expressed that chaparral is not injured by 
fire, and that no matter how often the slopes are burned over the 
stand will not be in the least impaired, but will “spring up with 
renewed vigor.” This opinion, based solely on casual observation, 
is far from the truth. Not only is the vitality of chaparral greatly 
lessened by burning, but the trees are often killed. The number 
killed will depend, of course, upon the severity of the fire, but also 
upon the species composing the stand. A greater number of dead 
stubs will be found after fire on an area occupied by lilac, Ceanothus 
