34 PROTECTION OF PLANTS, 1921-22 



of dead and dying balsam and a considerable amount of dead and seriously 

 injured red spruce. 



It should be emphasized that although the primary budworm outbreak 

 has been over for some years in probably all of Quebec Province, except the 

 western portion already mentioned, the weakened balsams have continued to 

 die until the present on verj- large areas, through the action of the beetles and 

 fungi which accompanied and followed the budworm attack, and it is evident 

 now that in the older and more heavily injured stands, growing under less 

 favourable conditions, this injury may be expected to continue until the greater 

 part of the balsam is killed. 



In Quebec Province west of the St. Maurice Valley and south of the 

 Height of Land, the balsam of pulpwood size is in large part dead or dying. 

 Throughout a broad belt from Lake Kipewa through Lake DuMoine, Grand 

 Lake Victoria and the Baskatong apparently over 90% of the balsam is dead 

 and fallen. In the area between the St. Maurice Valley and the Saguenay 

 and Lake St. John, the injury has varied in intensity; apparently between 25% 

 and 90%, of the balsam is dead, with the average probably 50% of the balsam 

 stand or more. Our reports from the Upper St. Maurice Valley indicated a 

 loss of less than 25%, and we have made no surveys there on that account. 

 We need further information about the loss in that region. 



South of the St. Lawrence the loss has been less severe, probably an 

 average of about 25% of the balsam; in places the red spruce has also been 

 severely injured, and in some sections a considerable quantity of spruce has 

 been killed. The Gaspe Peninsula proper has escaped entirely this budworm 

 outbreak. So far as we know the only active budworm outbreak in Quebec 

 Province at present is that already mentioned as extending across the inter- 

 provincial boundary into Ontario from the country north of Lakes Quinze 

 and Temiskaming. In this country nearly 50% of the balsam is dead now and 

 the rest probably will be dead within the next 5 years. 



It is not possible to estimate the quantity of timber killed with anj' great 

 degree of exactness from the data now available to us. We have no means 

 of knowing how much balsam originally existed on the great area immediately 

 south of the Height of Land upon which the most wholesale injury occurred; 

 but, judging from information we have, and exact estimates which have been 

 made on considerable areas, it would appear that the quantity of balsam 

 which has already died in Quebec or which almost certainly will die within the 

 next few years cannot be much less than one hundred million cords and is 

 probably much greater than this. 



