PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN NEW BRUNSWICK. 21 



of Forests of Ontario this wint^er in brush bui-ning in the Rainy 

 River district. Many of the himbermen there, as here, wou'd 

 favor the proposal if their neighbors were required to do so. This 

 would ro doubt require a large force for supervision, and would 

 meet with opposition, but it would certainly be to the best inter- 

 ests of the forests and may come in time. 



As to the setting of fires by railroads the law now enacted to 

 place the responsibility upon the railroad comi)any seems a de- 

 cided advance, but there is no doubt that the forest lands through 

 which new railroads are passing in New Brunswick will be burn- 

 ed and ravished by fire as before. Last summer there was a 

 test made at Purdue University of a new sjjark arrester before re- 

 ])resentatives of several leading railroad companies The device 

 works upon the principle of centrifugal force and was ertirely 

 successful, not a spark being seen at night to issue from the loco- 

 motive upon which the test was made. It is claimed that it does 

 not interfere with the draft of the engine, whish is the main ob- 

 jection to the present spark arrester made of wire gauze I know 

 nothing of the cost of this apparatus, but if its cost is moderate 

 and it will do the work as demonstrated last summer its adoption 

 by the new railroad companies would certainly be a boon to the 

 forests of this province. 



These are some of the things that forestry agitation has done 

 and can do for the future welfare of our forests. Jn writing upon 

 this subject we have tried to keep in mind that since lumbering 

 is a practical business in this province all fads and 

 fancies must be laid aside by the forester and only those measure'^ 

 discussed which would api^eal to the progressive lumberman as 

 wise !ind expedient. On the other hand, the lumberman must 

 think of the future of the forest, as it is this which makes all the 

 difference between conservative and destructive lumbering. And 

 conservative lumbering is perhaps the nearest ap]>roach we can 

 hope to make to forestry in New Brunswick at the present 

 time when the majority have no fenr of the bogey of a timber 

 famine or regard for a future supply. 



