12 BULLETIN 1402, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE 
SLASH DISPOSAL 
On cut-over lands, two factors account for a set of problems that 
do not exist in the virgin forest and that require a more specialized 
S3^stem of protection. These are slash disposal and the logging 
operation itself as a source of fires. 
The large quantity of slash from the trees that have been cut, 
added to the advance reproduction and brush present before log- 
ging, gives cut-over areas in any type possibilities of fires far more 
intense, more damaging, and more difficult to combat than in the 
virgin forest. One of the prime necessities in fire protection is thus 
reduction of the slash hazard, and the breaking of cut-over areas 
into blocks so that control of fires may be assured. Several 
methods of slash disposal are already in use in the pine region. 
BROADCAST BUEXIXG 
In the past, it has been a common practice on private lands to 
burn the slash broadcast, which simply means touching it off as it 
lies after the logs have been removed, and stopping the resulting 
fire when it reaches virgin timber. Frequently, too, fires starting 
during logging, generally from the operations themselves, have 
been allowed to burn, with essentially the same effect as fires delib- 
erately set. An example of the maximum destructiveness of broad- 
cast summer burning of slash was encountered on private land in 
the yellow pine type on the east side of the Sierras, logged in 1914 
and burned over the following year. The slash, to be sure, was 
completely consumed, but the considerable quantity of advance re- 
production and a number of seed trees that had survived logging 
were completely wiped out. A strip run on this area showed in 
11/2 miles just two seedlings and no live seed trees. The brush 
which is now in possession of the ground is a species indicative of a 
nontimber site, showing that besides destroying the young growth 
the fire ruined the soil itself, leaving it incapable of sustaining 
forest trees for many years to come. 
Many cases were found in which part of a cutting area had 
been broadcast burned while part had escaped fire. The result 
of such treatment is the wiping out of the new forest on burned 
ground, and the occupation of the land by worthless brush. In con- 
trast, particularly on older cuttings, the unburned lands generally 
are in fair shape, with advance reproduction and seed trees. Slash 
fires usually wipe out not only the smaller reproduction but seed 
trees as well, so that the return of the forest is a matter of decades. 
The minimum effect of slash fires is the destruction of advance 
reproduction and the death of some seed trees. Such fires, how- 
ever, do not completely consume the slash, and the fir^ hazard, which 
the burn aims to reduce, remains but little lower than if the slash 
were left untouched. The rapid invasion of the brush is also aided 
by broadcast burning (fig. 3). 
Even where only minimum damage results on part of a slash 
bum. it is not uncommon to find complete destruction on another 
portion of the same area. Extensive fires are so uncertain in their 
action that it is impossible to control their effect on the forest. 
