ROLE OF FIRE IN CALIFORNIA PINE FORESTS 63 
BURNING IN PLACE 
A second way in which slash may be disposed of by fire is to burn 
the separate piles and windrows just as thas He after the logging opera- 
tioniscompleted. This method must be employed when theslash itself 
will burn but the surface between piles will not. In practice, these ex- 
act conditions have proved extraordinarily difficult either toforecast or 
to recognize. The grave danger of burning in place is that conditions 
may be misjudged and a broadcast burn result. Another disadvan- 
tage is that with either animal or machine logging, both of which 
make trails cleared of reproduction, the slash is left in the strips be- 
ween trails mingled with the reproduction which has survived from 
the logging operation. Burning of the slash in place by spot firing 
has resulted, even under the best conditions, in very heavy loss to 
young growth. This method is generally less destructive than the 
broadcast burn, but the cost is materially higher, since the fire must 
be set to individual piles. 
Burning in place has, however, been skillfully and successfully used 
in some mixed stands of western yellow pine and white fir where only 
the pine has been logged and where the amount of slash was conse- 
quently small, and the trees left were generally large. But with the 
ordinary type of clear cutting of the forest, this practice can not be 
considered desirable because it is so uncertain and is frequently accom- 
panied by seriouslosses. Both broadcast burning and burningin place 
may result in a complete clean-up of the slash itself, but Sate at the 
sacrifice of the major purpose of slash disposal, the preservation of 
reproduction and seed trees.from accidental fire. 
PILING AND BURNING 
A third method in which fire may be employed in removing slash 
is that generally used in national forest sales, known as ‘‘ piling and 
burning.’ In this method, as logging progresses the slash is placed in 
compact piles in apenings away from the bulk of the reproduction 
and seed trees. (PI. XIV, fig.1.) The piles are then burned, usually 
in the late fall at a time when a minimum of damage will be caused 
to advance growth and seed trees. Constant study and application 
by many men over a long period of years have developed the tech- 
nique of this method to a high point and with close supervision its 
results in actual practice are generally good. Properly used the sys- 
tem cleans up from 75 to 90 per cent of the slash with a negligible 
percentage of damage to advance reproduction and seed trees. 
The necessity for skill and care in these operations may be made 
very clear by pointing out the following dangers: 
1. Misjudging climatic conditions, and burning at a time when fire 
will spread, with the result of wiping out or seriously damaging 
advance reproduction and seed trees. 
2. Sudden change in weather while burning is in progress, so that 
fires spread before they can be stopped, with the same result as noted 
above. Occasionally a heavy rain or snow in the first fall storm may 
prevent burning for a season. 
8. Touching off at one time too many piles that are close together, 
and thus drying out the litter and spreading the fire. 
4, Piles mixed in with advance reproduction, instead of being placed 
in open spots or on skid trails. This usually follows where supervision 
