DAY BY DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17621, 28 January 1929, Page 6

DAY BY DAY.

The suggestion that some effort should he made to reduce the Bush Fires ravages of hush fires is in based on common sense, Australia, says a Sydney paper.

Bush Arcs are casued by the accumulation of fuel, such as leaves, twigs, and bark from the trees, and the growth of grass and scrub. The eucalypts, of course, produce enormous quantities of bark and dead brandies, and scrub and suckers have a capacity for very rapid growth, this activity of Nature being probably a compensation for the damage wrought'by fire. This vast quantity of fuel is then dried by high percentage of heat, and the paucity of the rainfall. Many of the natural conditions in Australia, therefore, are favourable to the development of bush fires. It would not be feasible to clean up all the forests, but it would be quite practicable to create ade-

quate safety belts around houses and settlements. Bush litter not onlyburns in itself, hut a fire in it sometimes “cooks” extensive areas of saplings. These wither and provide ample fuel for the next bush fire which happens along. The remedy is “picking up” and judicious burning off of safety areas.