60 BULLETIN" 13, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The disposal of slash, is important as a preventive measure. The 
best time to destroy brush or debris is while logging is in progress. 
With the aid of one extra swamper the burning of brush can be cheaply 
and effectively done by the logging crew. The best time to burn brush 
is during a wet season, preferably in winter when snow is on the 
ground. The cost of burning depends upon the character of the stand 
and the cost and efficiency of labor. Wide-topped trees, the type 
known as " cabbage pines," have heavy crowns and large limbs, which 
cost more per thousand board feet to burn than the brush from smaller 
crowned trees grown in pure, fully stocked stands. In mixed stands 
of white pine and other species, the burning of white-pine slash is more 
expensive than in pure stands. In mixed stands of red and white 
pine, in the Lake States, brush has been disposed of while the logging 
is in progress for 12 cents per thousand board feet. In many cases, 
however, it will cost much more than this. 
When logging is done in a dry season the brush should be piled when 
the trees are cut, but not burned until moister conditions prevail. In 
piling, the tops should be thrown to the center of the piles and the 
smaller branches placed at the bottom, with successively larger mate- 
rial laid above. This makes a compact pile, easy to burn. The size 
of the piles will depend upon the amount of material to be disposed of 
and the available space. Small piles are safer than large ones, a con- 
venient size being 10 feet across and 6 feet high. The piles should not 
be within 20 feet of standing trees or placed in a way to obstruct the 
skidding of logs. In general, the cost of piling and burning white- 
pine slash will probably range from 25 to 50 cents per thousand board 
feet of lumber cut . 
The slash should not be burned hi windrows, since unless the 
weather and moisture conditions are favorable there is danger of start- 
ing a general conflagration. Often, moreover, the windrows cover a 
large percentage of the total area, and when they are burned the 
greater part of the seed which has fallen during logging will be 
destroyed. 
While the scattering of slash is not advisable where there is danger 
from fire, it may, wherever conditions permit, be made to serve an 
important function by protecting the soil and small seedlings from 
drought and frost. In scattering slash, however, no tops should be 
left propped up on the ground by their side branches. All branches 
should be lopped and the brush made to lie flat on the ground. In 
close stands, where burning is impracticable, scattering is the best 
means of disposing of slash. It is also perhaps the best method in 
moist situations where the branches will decay rapidly. 
For the prevention of fire on comparatively small tracts a simple 
system of fire lines, supplemented by patrol at intervals during the 
danger season, is probably sufficient. On large tracts a system 
