1909] The Ottawa Naturalist. 27 



for such purposes in places where it must all be imported and is 

 very high in price. Even in Venice, Italy, the lecturer saw in 

 the canals several barges laden with firewood and he was astonish- 

 ed at the quantity of wood used for other purposes. In Italy the 

 use of wood is reduced to the minimum, and yet the country 

 finds it necessary to import twenty-five million cubic feet an- 

 nually, although she herself produces two hundred and forty-five 

 million cubic feet annually. 



Then, we need forests to give an even flow of water in the 

 streams, to prevent the washing away of the soil, and to act as a 

 break to the wind. In some parts of the Northwest the soil is a 

 peculiar clay loam that breaks beneath the feet like ashes. In 

 other parts it is a light sand. Such soil is picked up and carried 

 by the wind as if it were light snow. To prevent this drifting 

 of soil the settlers are planting shelter belts in manv places. The 

 Dominion Government has already sent out from Indian Head 

 eleven million trees free of charge for this purpose. 



Forests are needed also for health, rest and recreation, and 

 to furnish food and shelter for the game and the fish. The esthetic 

 value the forests have for the country one learns to appreciate 

 in travelling over it. The trees with their variety of form and 

 richness of coloring, clothing the hills and bordering the lakes 

 and streams, lend a peculiar grace and loveliness to the landscape. 



Some of the reasons why forests should be preserved have 

 now been given. They furnish wood, feed springs, prevent floods, 

 hinder erosion, shelter from storms, protect the game and fish, 

 and give the country esthetic features. How then can the forests 

 best be preserved? 



To protect the forest from fire is the first law. In our forests 

 where old rotten logs lie everywhere on the ground, and where the 

 lumberman leaves the tops of trees, and gathers the brush into 

 heaps as if getting the woods ready for burning, the question is 

 difficult. In Europe, where the brush is all utiHzed, and where 

 even the stumps are taken out of the ground for fuel, the problem 

 is comparatively simple. 



The Forestry Branch of the Department of the Interior 

 keeps constantly in the woods a large force of fire rangers, whose 

 duty it is to prevent and extinguish forest fires. They prevent 

 fires by posting along roads, trails and streams cloth notices 

 which state the law in regard to the use of fire. They also call 

 upon the farmers and caution them in regard to burning fallows, 

 logs, stumps, brush, grass and straw stacks in violation of the 

 law. 



Then, these fire rangers extinguish fires that start in the 

 woods. It is their duty to warn out the settlers, who are obliged 

 bv law to obev the summons, and direct them in fighting the fire. 



