NOTES 343 



sively us.ed in both eastern and western forests, especially in connection 

 with the Osborne "fire-finder" in the northwestern forests. 



Canadian and American Forestry Battalions 



From an interesting account of the forestry work of the Canadian 

 and American forestry battalions overseas by Major Barrington Moore, 

 second in command of the United States Forestry Corps, before the 

 Canadian Forestry Association, we quote in full the following account 

 of the operations: 



The organization of the American forestrj' section was patterned largely after 

 that of the Canadian Forestry Corps. When Colonel Graves and I landed in 

 France, in June, 1917, we went first of all to the British Forestry Directorate at 

 La Touquet. General Lord Lovatt received us with the greatest friendliness and 

 gave us complete data, which he had prepared in advance, covering his entire 

 organization and equipment. Then, after a trip to the Canadian operations under 

 Colonel Johnson on the Government forest of La Joux, in eastern France, and 

 after working over the information collected, we drew up a cable, outlining the 

 organization of the forestry troops required by the A. E. F. We based our re- 

 quirements on an army of two million men, and asked for 18,000 forestry troops, 

 of which 7,500 were to be skilled lumbermen, about 4,500 engineer troops for road 

 and camp construction, and about 6,000 unskilled labor. At the same time we 

 requested 12 officers to come over at once for our overhead organization. These 

 officers we asked for by name. They arrived in about tw'o months, in time to 

 be of great service in acquiring standing timber and other preparatory work. 

 The unit of the Canadian Forestry Corps is the company. We made ours the 

 battalion, on account of our army regulations. It was hard at first to make our 

 superiors see the need for elasticity. Forestry troops were an entirely new ven- 

 ture. The number of men in the actual operations depended entirely upon the 

 needs of the case. Sometimes only 50 men would work together, and then again 

 we would have a thousand or more. 



The standing timber was all bought through an interallied committee com- 

 posed of French, British, and Americans ; later the Belgians were represented. 

 We ourselves selected each forest, in company with a French officer, and then 

 laid it before the committee. The negotiations with the owner and purchaser 

 were done by the French. The French possessed the right of requisition, and 

 used it efifectively, saving millions of dollars and defeating the swarms of specu- 

 lators which buzzed around us like flies around the honey, pot. By persistent 

 efforts we managed to acquire timber enough to keep ahead of the operations. 

 But toward the end it was becoming more and more difficult to find reasonably 

 accessible tracts. Accessibility was of prime importance in selecting timber, be- 

 cause of the need for rapid production. If the war had lasted we would have 

 been in a difficult position. When it ended, we were planning to do railroad 

 logging in the mountains. 



Logging conditions varied greatly. The southwestern pineries are as level as 

 a table, except for the dunes along the edge, and resemble our southern long- 

 leaf pine country. Central France is level or rolling, the chief obstacle being 



