94 



Canadian Forestry Journal, June 1913. 



University of New Brunswick, with 

 Mr. K. A. R. Campbell as assistant, 

 and Mr. R. K. Shives with Mr. G. S. 

 Laughlin will be working in the vic- 

 inity of Battleford and Prince Albert, 

 respectively. The men assigned to 

 this kind of work in the Railway Belt 

 in British Columbia are Messrs. F. 

 B. Robertson, C. R. Mills, E. B. 

 Prowd and H. A. Parker. The two 

 first-named will be the men in charge 

 of the parties. 



Mr. W. N. Millar, District Inspec- 

 tor of Forest Reserves for the Pro- 

 vince of Alberta, has outlined exten- 

 sive trips in connection with his in- 

 spection work in the Rocky Mountains 

 forest reserve. Mr. Millar spent a very 

 large proportion of his time last sum- 

 mer in the field, but he was able to 

 cover only about half of the very large 

 area under his jurisdiction. The trips 

 that he has planned for the present 

 season will complete his personal in- 

 spection of all the Rocky Mountains 

 forest reserve lying south of the 

 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The 

 most extensive single trip will be a 

 journey with pack train from Laggan 

 to Fitzhugh. 



Prof. R. B. Millar, of the Univers- 

 ity of New Brunswick, Dept. of For- 

 estry, has accepted an appointment to 

 do consulting work with the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway forest service during 

 the summer. 



CROSS TIES PURCHASED IN 1912 



A very interesting report on the cross 

 ties purchased in Canada in 1912 has been 

 issued by the Dominion Forestry Branch. 

 Statistics were based on reports received 

 from 51 steam railways and 36 electric 

 railways operating in Canada in 1912. 



The total number of ties, 21,308,571, 

 were valued at $9,373,869. Part of these 

 were imported, but the bulk of the ties 

 used on Canadian railways were cut in 

 Canada. The imports of ties in 1912 reach- 

 ed approximately $1,697,431, which would 

 indicate that less than one-fifth of the ties 

 purchased in 1912 were imported. 



There were purchased in Canada in 1912 

 a total of 21,308,571 cross-ties; this was an 

 increase in actual numbers of 6,919,347 or 

 a 48.1 per cent, increase over 1911. This 

 increase took place on almost all the rail- 



ways in Canada and was especially notice- 

 able on transcontinental lines. 



Nineteen different kinds of wood were 

 used with jack pine still leading. The use 

 of each material increased from 1911 with 

 the exception of Eastern spruce and red 

 pine. Balsam fir and Western spruce were 

 added to the list of 1911 and poplar and 

 black ash were dropped. 



The use of the cedar tie has varied 

 greatly from year to year. In 1908, 1909 

 and 1910 cedar ties headed the list al- 

 though the numbers purchased showed de- 

 creases each year. In 1911 cedar ties form- 

 ed only 10 per cent, of the total and fell 

 back to fourth place on the list. In 1912 

 the use of this material increased by some 

 1,898,710 ties and this wood moved up to 

 second place on the list, forming 15.6 per 

 cent, of the total. 



Douglas fir has steadily increased in use 

 since 1909, when data concerning its use 

 were first obtained. Oak and the other five 

 hardwoods — chestnut, beech, maple, birch 

 and elm — have also increased remarkably. 

 There seems to be a tendency on the part 

 of the management of older established 

 steam railways to reduce the use of soft, 

 light material for cross-ties, especially 

 where fast trains and heavy rolling stock 

 are used. Some of the Eastern roads have 

 ceased to purchase cedar, pine, hemlock 

 and tamarack ties and use only the hard- 

 woods. The use of imported hard pine has 

 increased with the hardwoods and was used 

 in making 3.1 per cent, of the ties pur- 

 chased in 1912. Western larch formed 5.6 

 per cent, of the total number, over a mil- 

 lion ties of this wood having been pur- 

 chased. 



The average value of ties, at the point 

 of purchase, increased from 39 to 44 cents 

 in 1912. 



It is interesting to note the increased use 

 of hardwoods by steam railway companies. 

 In 1911 woods such as oak, chestnut, beech, 

 maple, birch, elm and black ash together 

 formed only 1.8 per cent, of the ties pur- 

 chased. In 1912 this percentage increased 

 to 6.7 per cent, through increased purchases 

 of 1,148,578 hardwood ties. 



Many Canadian railway companies are 

 now beginning to realize the value of pre- 

 serving at least a part of their tie material 

 from decay and insect injury. The prac- 

 tice of chemical treatment of railway ties 

 has been carried on by railways in the 

 United States for some years with appar- 

 ently satisfactory results. 



The practice in Canada is just begin- 

 ning, but it is increasing rapidly with the 

 increasing cost of tie material and the 

 constantly decreasing supply. In 1910 

 practically no treated ties were used by 

 Canadian railways. In 1911 some 206,209 

 ties received chemical treatment before be- 

 ing placed in the roadbed. This number, 

 while forming only 1.4 per cent, of the 



