THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT 



By Ellwood Wilson 



THE Director of The Dominion 

 Forestry Branch reports that 

 the reindeer herd imported from 

 Labrador did not reach Fort 

 Smith, Alberta, in the fall of 1911 but 

 wintered about ninety miles south near 

 Fort Chipewyan. There was plenty of 

 feed and they wintered satisfactorily 

 and were in good condition when the 

 spring opened at which time they 

 numbered thirty- two. One strayed 

 away in April. There was no natural 

 increase. In May the herd were moved 

 by scows to Whitefish Lake where they 

 arrived without mishap. Here an 

 inclosure of about two square miles of a 

 promontory was built, as it was feared 

 that the herd might stampede when the 

 flies became troublesome. In Jime the 

 bull dog flies appeared and the deer 

 stampeded and broke through all bar- 

 riers and only twelve, all does, were 

 recaptured. One more escaped in 

 another stampede in November. They 

 have now all been transferred to an 

 island about six miles from shore with 

 an area of about six square miles and it 

 is hoped that they will thrive there. 

 The Dominion herd of wood bison were 

 also examined and several individuals 

 were sighted and tracks of larger nirni- 

 bers seen, but the animals are very 

 wild. The herd is estimated to contain 

 between two and three hundred. The 

 wolves do not seem to have made any 

 serious depredations on the herd. 



The new beaters for the Dominion 

 Forests Products Laboratory have ar- 

 rived and very important tests and 

 studies will be made as soon as they are 

 installed. No large scale experiments 

 of paper beating have ever been 

 scientifically made and much important 

 information is looked for from these 

 tests. 



The English Government has sent 

 out a Commission to investigate the 

 possibility of Canada supplying much 

 of the timber now imported from 

 Europe, especially mine props. The 

 Provincial Governments have removed 

 the restriction that all wood cut on 

 Crown Lands must be manufactured in 

 Canada so far as these latter are con- 

 cerned, in order to help the Mother 

 Country. 



The newly located goldfields at Beaver 

 Lake, north of Cumberland House, 

 Saskatchewan, are attracting consider- 

 able attention and the influx of pros- 

 pectors is keeping the fire rangers in 

 that district very busy. 



Mr. P. Z. Caverhill, District Forester 

 of the British Columbia Forest Service, 

 Kamloops, B. C, reports that he has 

 built 122 miles of trail and sixty miles 

 of telephone line this season. He also 

 says, "A start was made in the disposal 

 of logging slash. The debris after a 



825 



