Northern Ontario^s Timber Resources 



183 



stration what could be done bv reforestry 

 for these sand plains that had become ab- 

 solutely useless for any other purpose. The 

 staff of experts there were giving infor- 

 mation by bulletins and by lectures to en- 

 courage farmers to take up this work, and 

 from the nursery over one and one half 

 million forest seedlings had been distrib- 

 uted to woodlot owners in all the southern 

 counties of the province. 



So far as northern Ontario was con- 

 cerned, artificial reforestation was not now 

 a practical question. Nature was doing 

 more than they could in an artificial way 

 in northern Ontario. It would cost any- 

 where from six to fifteen dollars per acre 

 to plant up these lands, and they could ex- 

 pend the money to much better advantage 

 in acquiring lands on which there was con- 

 siderable growth at the present time. 



Cost of Fire Protection. 



But the great question in the north was 

 to secure proper cutting and protection 

 from fire. He doubted whether they fully 

 appreciated as a people the immense areas 

 of timber land that Ontario had in its 

 absolute possesison. Only a small area of 

 land had been alienated from the Crown, 

 leaving tens of millions of acres for the 

 Province to use as it thought best. As to 

 fire ranging, a few years ago a new ar- 

 rangement was made with the lumbermen 

 whereby they bore the total cost of the 

 fire ranging on their limits. The Province 

 placed over these supervising rangers who 

 had authority to compel limit holders to 

 put the necessary number of men on these 

 limits. Then upon Crown timber lands and 

 forest reserves the Province employed its 

 own rangers. They had also provincial 

 patrols upon railway lines and other places 

 where there was special danger. Last year 

 there was a staff of 925 rangers on On- 

 tario's timber lands. The cost of fire 

 ranging to the province was $233,000. If 

 to that was added what he was informed 

 was paid by the limit holders, namely, 

 $92,000, it would be seen that the total 

 cost of fire ranging in the province last 

 year was $325,000. They were gradually 

 strengthening and perfecting the system 

 of fire protection in the north. This in- 

 cluded the erection of telephone lines and 

 lookout stations. It was impossible to to- 

 tally prevent fire in these millions of acres, 

 but the Government was endeavoring to 

 minimize that danger as much as possible. 

 But the Government could not do all this 

 itself, it required and asked the co-oper- 

 ation of lumbermen and citizens generally. 

 Last year he had had an Act passed in 

 regard to the making of ties, Dy which 

 the Government might suspend this work 

 during the danger season from April to 

 August, or might make such regulations as 

 it deemed proper. 



It seemed to him that perhaps the time 

 had now come when they might require 

 railway companies to treat these ties so as 

 to extend the life of them as long as pos- 

 sible, and thus conserve that kind of tim- 

 ber. 



Mr. Hearst then gave a review of the 

 timber regulations in Canada from the 

 earliest time, and pointed out that a num- 

 ber of the gentlemen that he saw before 

 him whose names were household words in 

 timber districts all over Canada, had them- 

 selves experienced a number of these 

 changing regulations. 



In closing Mr. Hearst said they some- 

 times heard too much of the differences be- 

 tween the manufacturing East and the 

 grain-growing West. Perhaps one of the 

 things that had helped to keep these two 

 sections apart was the hitherto unoccupied 

 portion of northern Ontario. To his mind 

 that north land with its wealth of timber, 

 minerals and water powers was bound to 

 become one of the great manufacturing 

 centres of the continent. It might be the 

 home of millions of people in the not far, 

 distant future, and would thus bridge over 

 the gap between East and West. In future 

 there would be neither East nor West, but 

 a united Canada from Atlantic to Pacific. 

 He concluded, 'This is the object I have 

 before me as a public man. This is my 

 ideal that I have in view. Then I hope 

 we shall perform our duty as citizens of 

 this fair province of Ontario so that we 

 shall make this great Dominion of Canada 

 not only a source of strength to, but the 

 dominating influence in that empire whose 

 flag encircles the globe, whose standard 

 is righteousness, whose path is duty.' 



NEW FIBE PBEVENTION ORGANIZA- 

 TION. 



(Continued from page 180.) 



Executive committee — Sir H. N. Bate, 

 Cecil Bethune, R. H. Campbell, W. H. 

 Dwyer, H. L. *Drayton, C. D. Findlayson, 

 Chief Graham, Frank Hawkins, Controller 

 Kent (as fire commissioner), J. A. Mach- 

 ado. Col. C. P. Meredith, P. D. Ross, Walt- 

 er Ross, W. H. Rowley, W. M. Southam, E. 

 Norman Smith, H. I. Thomas, Mayor Ellis, 

 J. R. Booth, Chief Ross, City Engineer 

 (^nrrie, Mr. A. Alford, Ex-M.P., Dr. Cha- 

 bot, M.P., E. J. Laverdue, Controller Par- 

 ent. 

 The following constitution was adopted: 

 The objects of this association shall be 

 to promote the science and improve the 

 methods of fire protection and prevention, 

 to obtain and circulate information on 

 these subjects and to secure the coopera- 

 tion of its members in establishing proper 

 safeguards against loss of life and property 

 by fire. 



