20 BULLETIN 1493, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
spend money to make the physical conditions unfavorable to fire. 
There are several ways of helping to immunize against fires, or at 
least to make fires easier to control. 
(1) First and foremost is burning the slash after logging is com- 
pleted, to rid the ground of the worst of the inflammable débris. 
This is so important a topic that it is treated separately in the section 
following. - 
(2) Naturally the closer the utilization the less serious will be the 
fire menace, for the more material removed from the ground the 
less there is left to carry fire. It might be supposed that competitive 
pressure would regulate utilization uniformly, but the great variation 
in the closeness of use of the timber on contiguous operations dis- 
proves that. Cull material should be used for fuel. Markets that 
will absorb the lower-grade logs should be catered to, that as much 
of the tree as possible may be taken out of the woods. Better 
markets for pulp wood, fuel, and chemical by-products will make 
practicable a’ better clean-up of the logged-off land in some sections. 
Well cleaned-up ground is an asset to any owner who wishes to grow 
successive crops of timber. 
(3) Snags (standing dead trees) are great hindrances to fire 
control, for they catch fire easily and act as flaming torches, scattering 
fire far and wide. It is highly desirable to get them all down. It 
should be a minimum requirement that prior to the first slash-burning 
season following logging all snags over 15 feet high and within 150 
feet of railroad tracks or of donkey-engine settings should be felled, 
as well as all snags over 15 feet high and 20 inches in diameter any- 
where on thearea. Itis still better to ‘‘fall’”’ the snags simultaneously 
with the green timber, and many loggers prefer to do so. Some 
snags have a value for donkey wood; some have a log value that helps 
offset the cost of ‘‘falling.”’ Also, their removal facilitates logging, 
lessens the number of accidents, and lowers the fire hazard and the 
fire-fighting bills of the operation. Hence the cost of snag “‘fallmge”’ 
is by no means all a proper charge against reforestation. 
Sometimes, as in old burns, the number of snags is so large that 
to cut them would be too costly. Here some modification of this 
requirement must be made, such as ‘‘falline”’ only the snags about 
the edges of each season’s logging area. 
(4) The débris resulting from clearing rights of way should be 
burned before the dry season in order to prevent the formation of 
fire traps along these routes of travel and to gridiron the tract with 
a series of fire lines the width of the cutting. At the same time, as 
an added precaution, the ground should be cleared of rotten wood 
and dry undergrowth for a few feet beyond the edges of the rights of 
way. That will lessen locomotive-spark and cigarette fires. A 
thorough clearing around camps in advance of location of buildings 
will prevent house fires, rubbish fires, or burning tobacco from 
igniting the slashings. 
PROMPT AND CAREFUL SLASH BURNING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR TYPE 
The following major premises are generally accepted for slash 
burning in the Douglas fir type proper: 
(1) Slash burning is a precaution against accidental fires. 
