Canadian Forestry ConvtnUon. 



Hon. A. K. Mnch'aii. Hon. K. L. 

 Haszard, R. L. lionlrn. M.F., D. Mc- 

 Nicoll (viee-pr<'si«l«'nt of the C.P.R.), 

 Win. Little, Dr. Falconer (Univer-, 

 sity of Toronto), Rev. Dr. <iordon 

 (Queen's University), E. K. Ring 

 (Forest Commissioner of Maine), 

 and R. B. Bennett, of Calvary . 



The first 8|)eaker was Hon. Syd- 

 ney Fisher, who gave his address in 

 French. lie appealed to the Oue- 

 bec government to undertake the 

 work of reforestation in the pro- 

 vince, there being large areas of land 

 of little value except for forest 

 growth. In addition to providing a 

 supply of timber the water-powers 

 would be safeguarded. He referred 

 to (laniage to the forest arising from 

 railway construction and to the 

 care taken to safeguard this point 

 in the building of the Transcontin- 

 ental. 



Mr. J. G. Peters, representing Mr. 

 H. S. Graves, Forester of the United 

 States, spoke with reference to the 

 fire protection system on the U. S. 

 National Forests. In speaking of the 

 fires of the past summer (1910) he 

 gave the following figures: Amount 

 of loss, $25,000,000: territory burn- 

 ed over, 4.000,000 aeres; amount of 

 timber lost, 8,000,000,000 feet; cost 

 of fire-fighting. .$1,000,000. He spoke 

 of the fire itself and the abnormally 

 dry seasons that preceded it and in 

 large part were accountable for its 

 spread to such gigantic proportions. 

 The administration was now trying 

 to sell off as fast as possible the 

 fire-damaged timber as the only way 

 of utilizing it. As the requisites for 

 a proper system of forest protection 

 he gave the following: (1) A system 

 of roads and trails; (2) Fire lines; 

 (3) Lookout stations; (4) Telephone 

 lines; (5) Rangers' cabins; (6) A 

 full equipment of tools; (7) In some 

 places, an equipment of pack trains; 

 (8) An adequate force of patrol- 

 men. He took up the features of the 

 state forest laws in Louisiana. Maine, 

 New York. Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey, and criticized the systems 

 (or lack of system) of forest fire 



prulccltuu m other states. Ili- alno 

 discnsscd the work of the pnvat«f 

 co-operative systems in the north- 

 western states. 



Hon. Achille Bergevin was the 

 next speaker. He advocated the 

 substitution of electric power for 

 that of steam and suggested the 

 building of a great national high- 

 way from coast to coast which 

 would open up vast stores of water- 

 power. As president of the Quebee 

 Fish and Game Protective Ahhocia- 

 tion he gave special attention to the 

 forests as game preserves. 



Mr. W. C. J. Hall, Superbtendent 

 of the Forest Protection Branch of 

 the Quebec Forest Service, read an 

 able and important paf)er on Forest 

 Protection. He detailed the mea- 

 sures necessary to secure adequate 

 protection for the forests, including 

 the creation of reserves on non- 

 agricultural lands, the establishment 

 of efficient patrols and lookout sta- 

 tions and proper supervision of 

 railways, settlers, campers and 

 others. 



Mr. J, M, Briscoe, of the Univer- 

 sity of Maine, representing Hon. E. 

 E. Ring. Forest Commissioner for 

 the state, followed. After voicing 

 the regret of Hon. Mr. Ring at being 

 unable to be present at the meeting, 

 he described minutely Maine's sys- 

 tem of forest taxation, the methods 

 of fire protection by lookout sta- 

 tions and patrol and the system of 

 n ports required of the patrolmen. 

 He also gave statistics regarding 

 forest fires for 1909 and 1910, and 

 noted new legislation passed tend- 

 ing to better fire protection and co- 

 operative measures arranged with 

 the state of New Hampshire. 



The meeting then adjourned. 



Thortday Afternoon. 



The first paper of the afternoon 

 session was read by Hon. E. H. 

 Bronson. of Ottawa, and was en- 

 titled Shall Canadians Conserve or 

 Destroy Their Forests t* Mr. Bron- 

 son advocated the giving by the var- 

 ious governments to lumbermen of a 



