DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1931 95 



obliterated. Some difficulty was experienced in getting good material for posts 

 and in many cases spruce was the only wood available but if better material 

 could at all be found it was always used. As well as renewing all the original 

 posts, I have planted five rock posts, one on each of. the available sites. A 

 five-chain tape was used for all general chaining and two hundred-foot tape used 

 for check chaining. The line was run with a standard Cooke transit of the 

 D.L.S. pattern, with which Polaris could be observed two or three hours before 

 dark. 



Appendix No. 33 



Extracts from report and field notes of the survey of the Seventh Base Line, 

 District of Cochrane, by Beatty & Beatty, O.L.S., 1931. 



Soil 



From Niven's Meridian east to the Nettogami River the soil is sand and 

 gravel ridges with occasional granite ridges and hills. From mile 16 east to 

 mile 40 the soil is mostly sandy with a little clay mixed with it. From mile 40 

 east to the boundary it is mostly sandy clay with some boulders on some of 

 the ridges. Granite outcrops again appear at the Lowakamistik River and there 

 are occasional low outcrops of granite from this point east. 



The first ten miles east of Niven's Meridian are broken and then the country 

 flattens out being generally undulating with low ridges running north and south. 

 The country is well drained by the numerous creeks and rivers. The muskegs 

 are much drier and firmer than those crossed last year and we did not encounter 

 ice in the swamps and heavy bush late in the summer. We had the usual 

 summer frosts. 



Timber 



In general the country is covered with muskegs and low ridges of spruce 

 from three to ten inches in diameter. As a rule these ridges are at numerous 

 creeks and rivers or where there is any drainage. Between miles 1 and 2, between 

 miles 3 and 5 and from the Yesterday River east to mile 10 there are some good 

 patches of spruce and jack pine. From mile 19 to 24, the 26th mile and from 

 mile 29 to 31 the timber is mostly spruce three to eight inches with narrow ridges 

 of spruce three to ten inches. This has been classed as merchantable timber 

 although quite a bit of it is scattered, yet there are patches that would yield about 

 fifty cords of pulpwood to the acre. At mile 56 and from mile 59 to 61 there is 

 some fair spruce three to eight inches with scattered poplar six to ten inches. 

 These strips are not as good as those to the west, but are the only good sections 

 crossed. 



Between miles 12 and 18 the higher country was overrun by fire eight or 

 nine years ago. The dead trees are still standing, there is a good growth of 

 young jack pine and spruce coming up. This same fire followed the French 

 River and the Yesterday River to the south of our line. It also crossed the line 

 at mile 39 but here it was only patchy and was mostly to the north of our line. 



From the Ah tick River east to mile 65, we found evidence that the country 

 had been burned over about 100 years ago. On the ridges in this section there 

 is a fair growth of pulpwood in places. 



As mentioned before the muskegs are firm and dry with scrub spruce to 

 four inches. There are very few tamarac muskegs and we found very little 

 swamp birch in the muskegs. 



