FORESTRY. 91 



It should be the aim of the ranger to get rid of this lying- 

 timber as quickly as possible, and I think some special in- 

 ducement should be held out to the settler to take this class 

 of timber first, as it goes rapidly to decay. One way would 

 be to make it free of dues and tax the standing timber. With 

 the dead and fallen timber removed, the difficulty in controll- 

 ing bush fires especially in forests of deciduous trees will 

 be largely overcome. The lying timber can only be gather- 

 ed, excepting with great difficulty, in the fall or early winter, 

 before it becomes covered with snow. Very little of this 

 class of timber has in the past been taken. The drawing of 

 fuel supplies is left off until winter sets in, and then, the fallen 

 timber being under the snow, the standing dry timber is 

 taken, as being easier to obtain. Another source of great 

 danger to the forests from fires is that large numbers of set- 

 tlers go to the sloughs and lakelets in the woods for their 

 hay, which is found in abundance in some places. 



There are some settlers who, as a means of escaping the 

 trouble and expense of clearing lands by hand, have resorted 

 to the use of fire. The fire that occurred at Moose Mountain 

 last summer, previously referred to, is said to have originated 

 from the burning of one of these hay sloughs in the timber. 

 Fires are also started by settlers clearing their lands of 

 timber for cultivation. I have had many proofs of this. 

 Hunters, fishermen and Indians are also responsible for start- 

 ing many of the fires which have done so much damage to 

 our forests. But a new and greater danger has arisen in the 

 mining prospector. This individual considers it a duty he 

 owes to his calling, to clear by fire all before him, to facili- 

 tate his search for minerals. The loss of the timber does not 

 concern him. The effects of this are already only too appar- 

 ent in our forests. It is estimated that the loss of timber to 

 the Province of Ontario in the Lake of the Woods and Rainy 

 Lake districts attributable to this source alone, is greater 

 already than the value of all the minerals that will ever be 

 taken out. The same thing is happening in British Colum- 

 bia. This cause of destruction is one of the most difficult of 



