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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Canadian Department 



By Ei.i,wood Wilson 

 Secretary, Canadian Society of Forest Engineers. 



A discussion is at present being carried 

 on, having been started by the Canadian 

 Forestry Association, as to the advisability 

 of requiring every person who enters the 

 woods from the first of April to the first 

 of November, whether to prospect, hunt, 

 fish or camp, to have a permit which he 

 would be required to show to any author- 

 ized fire-ranger. There would probably be 

 no charge for such a permit, but it would 

 certainly be a great help in locating the re- 

 sponsibility for forest fires and would make 

 persons going into the woods much more 

 careful as their movements would be 

 known. 



The Ontario government in building and 

 operating their own railroad, the Temis- 

 kaming and Northern Ontario Railway, are 

 taking great care to protect all timberlands 

 along their right-of-way. They have in 

 dangerous sections cleared quite a distance 

 back from the tracks so as to form "fire 

 zones," each train is followed by a patrol- 

 man on a speeder, and tank cars are held 

 in readiness in case fire should break out. 

 All engines are equipped with spark ar- 

 resters and guards for the ash pans to 

 further guard against fires. This line runs 

 through the beautiful Temagami Forest 

 Reserve which would be completely ruined 

 by a large fire, a great disaster for the 

 Province. The fire destruction in Northern 

 Ontario in the past 25 years has been ap- 

 palling and it is high time to save what is 

 left. The example of this railroad might 

 well be followed by the Dominion owned 

 lines. 



The Canadian Society of Forest Engi- 

 neers has lost one of its most valued 

 members by the death of Abraham 

 Knechtel, Chief Forester, Dominion Parks 

 Branch of the Department of the Interior. 

 The late Mr. Knechtel was born at Brus- 

 sels, Ontario, in 1859 and was in his fifty- 

 sixth year. He was one of the pioneers in 

 scientific forestry on this continent. He 

 graduated from Michigan Agricultural Col- 

 lege with the degree of Bachelor of Science 

 and completed his forestry education at 

 Cornell, taking the degree of Forest En- 

 gineer. For seven years he was attached 

 to the Forest, Fish and Game Commission 

 of New York State and then came to Ot- 

 towa to work with the Forestry Branch 

 of the Department of the Interior. While 

 in New York he laid out the first forest 

 plantation made by that State. In 1904 

 he was sent to the St. Louis exhibition to 

 lay out a forest nursery there for the Com- 

 mission and received a special medal for 

 his services there. He then went to Europe 

 to study forest conditions and practice. 



For several years he delivered lectures on 

 Forestry under the auspices of the New 

 York State School Board. He was one of 

 the charter members of the Canadian So- 

 ciety of Forest Engineers and a member 

 of the Canadian Forestry Association. His 

 work as Forester of the Dominion Parks 

 was of a high character and he will be 

 greatly missed. 



Mr. H. R. MacMillan, Chief Forester of 

 British Columbia, now acting as Special 

 Trade Commissioner for that Province, has 

 reached Johannesburg, South Africa. He 

 writes from there that he is having a hard 

 fight against Southern yellow pine. The 

 orders coming to British Columbia since 

 he began his journey tell of the success of 

 his mission, especially those received from 

 the British War Office. It is rumored that 

 he will go to the front. Although South 

 Africa has made great progress in planting 

 to establish its own supply of timber there 

 is still a large demand, especially for rail- 

 way ties. 



The Toronto City Architect has under- 

 taken tests of Canadian woods so as to 

 encourage their use as building materials 

 and lessen the importation of foreign 

 species. 



Dean Adams, of the Faculty of Applied 

 Science of McGill University, in speaking 

 before a meeting of the Montreal Forum" 

 about the natural resources of the Domin- 

 ion, called attention to the rapid decrease 

 in our timber and the erroneous impres- 

 sion that it was inexhaustible. He pointed 

 out that the forests are disappearing at a 

 rapid rate and that better fire protection 

 and cutting methods are necessary. He 

 made a strong plea for better methods and 

 more public interest in conserving our 

 natural resources. 



Thirty-five per cent of the undergradu- 

 ates and graduates of the Forestry Depart- 

 ment of the University of Toronto have 

 enlisted for service at the front. Of sixty- 

 two graduates twenty had enlisted up to 

 the twentieth of October and of the 

 seventy-one undergraduates, twenty-seven 

 had enlisted. 



On the fifteenth of December a meeting 

 of the most prominent lumbermen and 

 paper mill men met at the Hotel Windsor, 

 Montreal, to discuss necessary amendments 



to the laws of the Province of Quebec for 

 the protection of the forests from fire. 

 There was very careful consideration and 

 several amendments were suggested to the 

 Hon. Minister of Lands and Forests and 

 he was asked to have such amendments 

 made law. 



John H. Riegel, president of the Union 

 Bag and Paper Company, announces that 

 certain financial arrangements have been _ 

 completed in regard to that Company's 

 subsidiaries. The Ores Falls Company, St. 

 Gabriel Lumber Company, and the Charle- 

 magne and Lac Oureau Lumber Company, 

 by which they will be consolidated into a 

 new company to be called the St. Maurice 

 Paper Company, and a new paper mill, a 

 sulphite mill and a kraft paper mill will 

 be added to the company's plant at Cap 

 Madelaine, near Three Rivers, Quebec. 

 These companies have extensive holdings 

 of wood lands and have been among the 

 staunchest friends of good fire protection. 



At the government nurseries of Canada, 

 located at Berthierville, for the Province 

 of Quebec, at St. Williams, Ontario, for the 

 Province of Ontario and at Indian Head, 

 Saskatchewan, for the Dominion Govern- 

 ment, and at another nursery being pre- 

 pared at Sutherland, Saskatchewan, stock 

 will again be available this year. The 

 number of trees shipped from Indian Head 

 has steadily increased from over two and 

 one-half million in 1910 to about three and 

 three-quarter million in 1914. These trees 

 are distributed among farmers throughout 

 the prairie provinces mainly for shelter I 

 belts, woodlots and the beautifying of ' 

 grounds around buildings. 



The fire loss in Canada for the season 

 just finished has been about ten million 

 dollars. 



The Canadian Timber Products Associ- 

 ation is about to send a representative to 

 France to look into trade opportunities 

 which will follow the war, and to oiler 

 some portable houses to the French govern- 

 ment to help the homeless. 



A bill is to be introduced in the coming 

 session of the British Columbia Legisla- 

 ture authorizing the government to build 

 thirty four-masted schooners to be fitted 

 with auxiliary Diesel engines to be used 

 in the lumber carrying trade. 



On December 14 last, the Quebec govern- 

 ment held an auction sale of timber lands 

 which has been offered the previous spring 

 but on which the upset price has not been 

 bid. 



A report made to the Forestry Branch 

 of the Dominion government by Mr. J. A. 

 Doucet, who examined about 8,000 square 

 miles in Northern Alberta, shows a woeful 

 state of aflfairs. Only 648 square miles 

 retain a forest cover 100 years old or over. 



