48 BULLETIN 418, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Piling brush. — The first step-in successful brush disposal is to secure good piles, and 
this requires the observance of the following provisions: 
1. The large limbs should be lopped off the tops, so that, where piles are made on 
the tree tips, the brush will lie compactly. 
2. Piles should be placed as far as possible from reserved trees of all sizes and from 
patches of reproduction of all species. 
3. Piles should be made medium in size; i. e., they should not be so large that they 
will make a dangerously large blaze, and they should not be so small that they will be 
unnecessarily costly to burn or cover an unnecessarily large proportion of the ground. 
4. The debris should be laid on the piles in an orderly fashion, so that they will be 
compact. The piles should be piles, and not heaps of brush. 
5. Large chunks, and heavy limbs free from twigs, should not be placed on the piles. 
Such pieces will not burn up completely, and, if charred, will not rot quickly. 
Burning the piles. — The success of the selection method of cutting as practiced in 
the yellow-pine region depends upon the proper burning of the brushy If it is not well 
done, the sale will be bad silviculturally no matter how good the marking or how much 
care is taken to avoid damage to reproduction and reserved trees. In order to burn 
the piles so that the least possible damage to the forest will be done, the following points 
should be observed, whether the burning is done by the purshaser under the direction 
of the forest officer or directly by the Forest Service. 
1. Each burning crew should consist of but four or five men, who should be in charge 
of an intelligent, careful foreman. In every case there should be a forest officer to 
each two crews, and he should be on the ground supervising the burning most of the 
time while it is in progress. 
2. The lighting of the piles should be done only by the foreman or some other re- 
sponsible member of the crew, who will use good judgment in applying the torch . : At 
times when the brush is apt to burn freely, only every other or every third or fourth 
pile should be lighted, and the balance burned later or on another day, and thus the 
intense heat caused by burning consecutive piles will be avoided and the danger of a 
general conflagration lessened. Account should also be taken of the direction of the 
wind in relation to reserved trees, and the torch used with discretion accordingly. 
The balance of the crew should "chunk up" the piles, so that a rim of unburned 
limbs, twigs, and needles will not be left, and should with shovels confine the fire to 
the space immediately about the piles. 
3. The foremost consideration in brush burning is to lessen the fire menace from the 
logging debris in such a way that as little as possible of the reserved timber and young 
growth will be hurt. It is not necessary, therefore, to burn every pile, for when an 
occasional pile is of necessity close to young trees, it is far better to leave it than to burn 
it and damage them. It is also unnecessary to burn the brush absolutely clean to a 
bed of ashes. The coarser pieces are not a fire menace so long as all the fine twigs and 
needles are consumed, and though unsightly for a year or two they are not so much so as 
a group of scorched or dying poles and saplings. It is usually better silviculturally 
to have the piles burn moderately than to have them burn fiercely, and the increased 
cost of slow burning is amply justified. 
4. In general, the fall is the best season for brush burning in practically every part 
of the district. On all sales, therefore, all the brush piles which have accumulated 
to date should be burned in the fall and early winter. _ In large sales where log- 
ging is in progress during the winter and early spring, in order to avoid carrying 
through the dry season a large quantity of brush piles, it may be best to do some spring 
brush burning. In any event, where a large quantity of brush is on hand in the spring, 
strips of brush piles should be burned for fire lanes. Begin fall burning as soon as the 
woods are wet enough, and spring burning as soon as the piles are dry enough. The 
burning seasons are short and should be made the most of. 
5. The key to successful brush burning is the selection of exactly the right time to 
do the burning. When the season is right for burning, prompt action should be taken 
to get the burning crew on the ground. The weather for each day must be considered. 
On windy days or during the hot middays, if the burning can not be done without 
danger or damage to young growth, it must be discontinued until conditions are right. 
On some steep brushy slopes, burning may be safe only when the brush is rather wet or 
when snow is on the ground. In short, use judgmentin selecting the day and the time 
of day for burning each part of a slashing; i. e., do it only at such times as will insure 
the best silvicultural results, and the administration of the crew should be so arranged 
as to accomplish this, even though to do so increases the cost of the brush disposal. 
1 A convenient brush-burning torch has been devised by one of the supervisors. It consists of a piece 
of light 2-inch pipe, IS inches long, with a detachable cap or headstop at one end, which is fitted through 
a reducer to a piece of § or f inch pipe 30 inches long. Through the small pipe is run a cotton wick of the 
3ame size, its lower end being bent into convenient shape. The large pipe answers as a tank and will 
hold 1 quart of coal oil. 
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