27 



Cutting rights were granted by order in council, mills that had 

 been closed were re-opened, new mills were erected, and tugs, gasolene 

 launches, scows and barges were chartered to transport the lumber. 



The production of spruce increased from 116,000 

 pJSfuction board feet in January, 1918, to 6,850,000 feet in 



December; the production of Douglas fir increased 

 from 209,000 feet in January to 1,382,000 feet in December. 

 Total production in 1918: Spruce, 26,124,000 feet; fir, 9,224,000 

 feet. 



Owing to the shortage of spruce, Douglas fir was used for 

 wing-beam stock. It was selected from commercial stock at the 

 mills, the recovery averaging only two per cent. 



Best Timber ^^^ supply of Sitka spruce for aeroplane manufacture 



from the is so limited that it is estimated that cutting, on a 



'^^^^ war basis, for another year, would have practically 



exhausted all the wood that is procurable at a reasonable expendi- 

 ture of money and effort. Obviously, steps should be taken to 

 conserve the remaining supplies of this material. Cutting it for 

 pulp or commercial lumber should be prohibited. Only the large 

 trees contain the clear, fine-grained lumber required. Most of the 

 aeroplane material was obtained from trees 500 to 800 years old, 

 and such trees cannot be replaced for centuries, if ever. 



LANDS 



Our work in connection with the Committee on Lands has 

 included: (1) The continuation of the illustration work in Dundas 

 county, and (2) general publicity work. 



Illustration County Work 

 During 1918, the work on the 16 farms in Dundas county, 

 where better farming methods are being practised, included the 

 following : 



1. System and methods of farming, embracing planning, crop 

 rotation, seed and variety selection, tests of different thicknesses 

 of clover seeding, tillage, live stock and manure. 



2. Labour, machinery and equipment. 



3. Business methods— selling, buying, co-operation. 



4. Educational work — schools, clubs, school fairs. 



At our First Annual Meeting the late Mr. C. C. James 

 Fam^r ° ^ ^^^ ^^'^^ ^'^^ solution of the problem of better agricul- 

 ture was not the taking of the farmer to the experi- 

 mental farm but the taking of the experimental farm to the farmer. 

 The latter was the policy' adopted by us in initiating illustration 



