106 FOREST. PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION 
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those areas that are shown by the scout as containing no Ribes. 
This scouting system is a prime factor in reducing the cost of 
eradication. 
The success of this method will invariably depend upon the 
ability of the scout. No set rules can be applied to scouting. It 
is a thing that requires natural ability in handling one’s self in 
the woods. <A scout must have good judgment, keen eyesight, and 
be most conscientious in his work. On his reports will depend 
what eradication work is to be done. 
The following methods have proven most effective in prelim- 
inary scouting for ribes. The scout covers the section by running 
parallel strips with a compass every 100 or 200 feet, giving partic- 
ular attention to those places where Ribes are likely to occur. If 
only a few bushes are found the scout pulls these. However, when 
scattered Ribes are found more or less abundantly, or patches of 
Ribes, such as skunk currants, are encountered, he does not try 
personally to eradicate these. In such cases, the scout marks the 
trees, by paint or blaze, around the patch and then arrows a line 
out to the nearest road or some natural feature, as a stream. Here 
he marks a tree by the roadside in a definite way, as a cross within 
a circle. In-some cases, instead of marking each Ribes plot by 
a trail direct to the road, or some naturd@feature, two or more 
such areas may be connected by a blazed line. On an enlarged map 
of the section covered, the scout shows the approximate location of 
the areas containing Ribes, the trails to such plots from the road- 
ways, and any connecting lines between plots. 
Later the foreman of the crew, with this map in his possession, 
takes the men to the nearest Ribes mark shown near a road. Then 
following the blazed trail, he locates the patch of bushes, and directs 
the crew to pull them. The men move from one plot to another 
until all the areas containing Ribes have been covered. If some of 
the marked plots containing Ribes are large, it may be advisable 
for the crew to run strips, but usually this will not be necessary. 
In order to eliminate blazing a trail from the Ribes patch to the 
roadway, the following system has been successfully tried out, 
where only a few patches of Ribes were found. The scout marked 
the approximate location of the currant or gooseberry plots on his 
miap, and also made a mental picture of their exact location. When 
the foreman wished to have the Ribes in these plots eradicated, he 
asked the scout to take the crew to these places. In some cases, it 
may work well for the foreman and scout to alternate in their 
