The Work oi a Forest Engineer. 



By A. H. D. Boss, M.A., M.F., Lecturer in Forestry, University of Toronto. 



In the present stage of our civilization, 

 wood, in one form or another, is an abso- 

 lute necessity. Our people use enormous 

 quantities of it for all sorts of purposes. 



During the present century Canada's 

 population is sure to reach the eighty 

 million mark. Meanwhile enormous quan- 

 tities of wood will be required for the con- 

 struction of the railways needed to open 

 up the country in advance of settlement 

 and to build homes for the people. The 

 myth that Canada possesses inexhaustible 

 supplies of timber is now pretty well ex- 

 ploded. The fact of the matter is that 

 there is far less timber in Canada than 

 many Canadians are willing to admit, and 

 much of it is of an inferior quality. The 

 growing scarity of timber has led to a 

 steady rise in prices -during the last 

 fifteen years, and the end is not yet. In 

 eastern Canada the wholesale prices of 

 pine and spruce lumber have advanced 

 between fifty and sixty per cent. This is 

 partly due to the growing scarcity of tim- 

 ber and the increased cost of logging, and 

 partly to the enormous quantities of tim- 

 ber exported to other countries, but mainly 

 to a knowledge of the limited quantity 

 still available. 



The growing scarcity of timber in other 

 countries than this and the constantly im- 

 proving transportation between the differ- 

 ent countries of the whole civilized world 

 warrant us in predicting the establishment 

 of world prices for timljer. 



Thus, if Canadians are to avert the 

 evils which have overtaken other lands 

 where the forest resources have been al- 

 lowed to diminish or approach the vanish- 

 ing point, they must adopt a general and 

 far-reaching poli(;y for the management 

 of their timber lands. Such a policy must 

 be based upon an adequate, scientific and 

 practical grasp of the whole situation. 

 Hence there has arisen the necessity for 

 a class of men with both a training of a 

 highly technical nature and a clear con- 

 ception of things wliicli at first sight do 

 not seem to be related, even in the remot- 

 est degree. These men must clearly un- 

 derstand tlio relationships that exist be- 

 tween the different parts of their work. 

 Otherwise, they will make many seriqus 

 blunders and bring their profession into 

 disrepute. 



A forester is not a mere botanist let 

 loose to air his theories at the expense of 

 others; neither is he a mere 'lumber- 



jack', fire-ranger, sportsman, entomolo- 

 gist, pathologist, dendrologist, silvicultur- 

 ist, or any other kind of 'ist'. He 

 should be all of these rolled into one and 

 must clearly understand all these phases, 

 of the general problem of preserving his 

 property and increasing its productive 

 capacity. The profession of forestry 

 touches life at many points, and cannot 

 safely be entrusted to half-educated men. 

 It has constantly to deal with questions 

 of tremendous magnitude and importance, 

 and its devotees are engaged in a profes- 

 sion of which they may well be proud. 



The professional forester does not aim 

 to oppose Nature, but to assist her — to 

 make use of the naturally favourable con- 

 ditions existing in any given locality and 

 to hold in check the unfavourable ones. 

 He exercises his skill in encouraging the 

 growth of the most suitable species, and 

 modifies their growth so as to produce the 

 most valuable timber in the shortest space 

 of time. All this must be done without 

 diminishing the value of the soil for the 

 production of future crops. 



Just as the agriculturist is engaged in 

 the production of food crops, so the for- 

 ester is engaged in the production of wood 

 crops. Each carries on his business for the 

 practical purpose of producing a revenue. 

 Each must protect his crop from insect 

 ravages, fungus diseases, fire, trespass, _ 

 etc. Each of them should guard against I 

 the impoverishment of the soil, and con- " 

 stantly aim to increase its value. In each 

 case, the land is the principal capital, and 

 any part of it either wholly non-produc- 

 tive or turned to a less profitable use than 

 it might be represents so much wasted 

 capital. 



Twenty years ago, the science of for- 

 estry was regarded as an abstract and de- 

 batable theory, and all knowledge of it 

 was confined to a few experts and en- 

 thusiasts whose views were regarded as of 

 doubtful value. Today the most intelli- 

 gent and public-spirited members of the 

 community regard the treatment of forest 

 resources according to well established 

 forestry principles as a vital and urgent 

 economic problem. From what has already 

 been said, it is surely evident that the 

 professional forester should be thoroughly 

 trained in all the branches of his work if 

 he is to be of the highest service to the 

 state. 



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