Tree Planting Competitions. 



Railway companies come in for no 

 little crticism because of the damage 

 it is alleged they do to forests, and it 

 is, therefore, only fair to chronicle 

 what they are doing on the other side 

 of the scale. 



The Canadian Pacific Railway has 

 just announced a competition in the 

 grooving of shelter-belts on farms pur- 

 chased from the railway in Alberta 

 south of Township 28. To encour- 

 age farmers to take up this competi- 

 tion the company are offering cash 

 prizes aggregating $2,400. There is 

 one sweepstake prize of $600, — two 

 grand prizes of $300 each two of $100 

 each, and 20 prizes of $50 each. As 

 a further inducement the Company 

 is giving the contestants half the trees 

 required free of charge, and has ar- 

 ranged the following prices for the 

 other half: — one thousand trees or 

 over, $15 per thousand; under one 

 thousand, $5 per hundred. The fol- 

 lowing varieties are furnished : — Rus- 

 sian poplar, Cottonwood, green ash, 

 Manitoba maple, laurel-leaf, willow 

 and caragana. Besides prizes and 

 trees, the company *s Forest Depart- 

 ment stands ready to supply any in- 

 formation in regard to trees and 

 planting. 



Prizes are to be awarded in the au- 

 tumn of 1914. Settlers who gain 

 prizes then will be allowed to go on 

 and compete for special prizes which 

 may be awarded in the next three 

 years. Wind-breaks in this competi- 

 tion must be planted in the Spring 

 of 1913. The chief points to be con- 

 sidered when judging are as follows: 

 preparation of the soil, 30 points ; cul- 

 tivation and care of trees, 30 points; 

 bush-fruits, shrubs and flowers, 10 

 points; growth and appearance of 

 trees at time of judging, 30 points; 

 total, 100 points. 



Having started out on this cam- 

 paign the Canadian Pacific Railway is 



explaining why it is doing so The 

 circular announcing the competition 

 is accompanied by a neat circular 

 entitled 'Increase the Value of Your 

 Farm: Why Every Western Cana- 

 dian Farmer Should Plant Wind- 

 breaks. ' The eight pages of this cir- 

 cular are filled with reasons why 

 wind-breaks increase the value of Al- 

 berta farms, and with directions for 

 attaining the best success in plant- 

 ing. 



Time was when people believed 

 trees could not be successfully culti- 

 vated west of Manitoba. Now, with 

 twenty million trees sent out from 

 the Dominion Government Forestry 

 Branch nurseries at Indian Head, and 

 with the C.P.R. pushing on the good 

 work, the appearance and comfort of 

 thousands of prairie farms will soon 

 be changed for the better by the shel- 

 ter-belts of millions of healthy trees. 



MERIT SYSTEM IN FOREST 

 SERVICE. 



Conservation. 

 On December 6, a delegation repre- 

 senting the Canadian Forestry As- 

 sociation urged upon Premier Borden 

 and the Minister of the Interior, that 

 all appointments to the outside Do- 

 minion Forest Service be based on 

 capability and experience ascertained 

 by examination conducted by the 

 Civil Service Commission. These re- 

 presentation are the result of recom- 

 mendations made at the last meet- 

 ing of the Association held at Vic- 

 toria, B.C. 



The winter is the best time to study 

 evergreen trees. Find how many of 

 the following are near your school: 

 white pine, red pine, scrub or Lab- 

 rador pine, fir, white spruce and red 

 spruce, hemlock, white cedar. — Edu- 

 rafional Review. 



