Protecting Limits by Telephone Lines. 



Private initiative and enterprise fre- 

 quently anticipates government action in 

 many lines of endeavour, and in the line 

 of forest protection a well-known lumber- 

 man of Quebec, Air. William Power, ex- 

 M.P. (recently elected a director of the 

 Canadian Forestry Association) is shuw- 

 ing the way to all the Canadian govern- 

 ments in installing telephones throughout 

 one of his limits, mainly with the idea of 

 assisting in the protection of the forest 

 from fire. 



The limit in question is owned by the 

 Eiver Quelle Pulp and Lumber Company, 

 and is situated along the line of the Na- 

 tional Transcontinental railway in Kam- 

 ouraska county, Quebec, near the Inter- 

 national boundary. The work of installa- 

 tion has been carried out under the per- 

 sonal supervision of the manager, Mr. W. 

 Gerard Power, son of Mr. Wm. Power. 



Fifty-two miles of telephone have been 

 strung, forming a circular chain of com- 

 munication through the heart of the tract. 

 Telephones have been installed for the 

 use of the fire-rangers at five different 

 points along this line, and portable tele- 

 phones, capable of being adjusted to the 

 line at any point, will be supplied to the 

 rangers and carried with them in the 

 woods, provided suitable instruments can 

 be procured. If not, ordinary wall tele- 

 phones are to be installed every two miles 

 along the line of the National Transcon- 

 tinental, where it passes through the 

 limits. 



The application of the telephone to this 

 use is not entirely new on the limits of 

 the Eiver Quelle Company. Qver two 

 years ago a line was built ten miles from 

 Ste. Perpetua village east, connecting with 

 the Kamouraska Telephone Company's 

 line. This first trial of the system proved 

 such a success that during the summer of 

 1910 it was extended and a line built from 

 the company's office in St. Pacome, cross- 

 ing the Eiver Quelle into the sixth range 

 of the parish of St. Qnesime, and thence 

 following the Ste. Anne colonization road 

 to the National Transcontinental, a dis- 

 tance of about seventeen miles. Thence 

 it follows the railway right of way to 

 Lake Ste. Anne, where two guardians are 

 kept during the summer season. From 

 this point the line continues west for nine 

 miles to Ste. Perpetua, joining here the 

 original installation. Another branch runs 

 from the Ste. Anne road east to Power- 

 ville, where- the company has their mill, 

 following the railway right of way. 



The advantage of the arrangement is 

 obvious, and its adoption has come into 

 vogue quite extensively of late years in 

 the United States. A ranger, using the 

 telephone to notify headquarters of a fire, 

 can in a short time have assistance sent 

 him, in this way having frequently the 

 opportunity to confine to a comparatively 

 small area a fire which threatened to de- 

 velop to serious proportions. 



ONTARIO'S WORK IN 1910. 



Mr. E. J. Zavitz, in his report read be- 

 fore the annual meeting of the Qntario 

 Experimental Union in January, gave 

 some interesting particulars regarding 

 the work of tree distribution and planting 

 done by the Department of Agriculture 

 of that province. During 1910 200,000 

 trees were sent out to private planters 

 throughout the province, and an equal 

 number was used by the Department in 

 its planting at the Norfolk County Forest 

 Station. The planting material sent out 

 consisted largely of Scotch pine, white 

 ash, white elm, sugar maple, soft maple, 

 catalpa and black locust. A number of 

 planters also received walnuts, butternuts 

 and hickory nuts for use in planting in 

 woodlots or plantations. 



The total number of trees sent out dur- 



ing the last five years in connection with 

 the scheme of free distribution amounts 

 to nearly two million. Plantations have 

 been started in about forty counties. Most 

 of the planting has been done in the south- 

 western part of the province. From 

 eighty to ninety-five per cent, of the trees 

 are living. 



About sixty collections of forest tree 

 seedlings have been sent out to schools 

 under the direction of the schools section 

 of the Experimental Union. 



For the coming season the department 

 has on hand for distribution trees of the 

 following species: white pine, Scotch 

 pine, white cedar, black walnut, butter- 

 nut, hickory, sweet chestnut, red oak, 

 maple, white ash, elm and black locust. 

 At present there are in the forest nursery 

 about 800,000 forest plants in nursery 

 lines and about 1,500,000 seedlings in 

 seedbeds. 



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