Progress in Forestry. 



Synopsis of Paper read by J, B. Dickson, B.ScF., Dominion Forestry Branch before the 

 Manitoba Horticultural and Forestry Association. 



In a material sense the support of a 

 nation is its natural resources. It is a 

 trite saying that * forestry is the par- 

 ent of industries, ' but forestry is such 

 a new tiling in Canada that some may 

 still be in doubt as to how large this 

 field is. Forestry is essentially a busi- 

 ness proposition, and it is for this rea- 

 son that it should be undertaken. The 

 chief aim of forest management is to 

 insure the permanency of lumbering 

 and its depending woodworking in- 

 dustries by insuring a perpetual sup- 

 ply of saw logs, and there are a num- 

 ber of auxiliary benefits which would 

 thus be .secured. These include regu- 

 lation of stream flow for domestic use, 

 irrigation, navigation or power pur- 



poses ; the securing of public revenue ; 

 the ameliorating of climatic condi- 

 tions; the conservation of fish and 

 game ; and supplying the people with 

 health-giving playgrounds. 



Wood is the corner stone of all 

 modern industrial life. North Am- 

 erica is to-day cutting three-quarters 

 of the total lumber production of the 

 world. On this continent the forests 

 are being laid waste by fire and axe 

 three times as fast as nature is renew- 

 ing them. The market price for all 

 important species has been increasing 

 from 50c to $1 per thousand feet for 

 the past. decade. It now costs about 



(Continued on page 76) 



Provincial Parliament Buildings, Winnipeg. 

 69 



