70 



Canadian Forestry Journal. 



Sipiwesk lakes, Wintering and Land- 

 ing lakes, return being made by way 

 of the Minago (or Pine) river. The 

 district inspected covered some 235 

 miles of the line of the proposed 

 railway. 



Method of Survey. 



The method followed was to run 

 inspection lines at three to six mile 

 intervals. The men worked singly, 

 running the lines by compass, and 

 were able to travel from four to six 

 miles per day and return to the line. 

 In this way a rapid reconnaisance 

 was made, which was extended by 

 the use of field-glasses. 



Timber of the Region. 



Through the country covered by 

 the exploration no timber was found 

 at any considerable distance back 

 from the water. 'Only a mere frac- 

 tion of one per cent, of the area 

 surveyed now carries merchantable 

 timber,' the report says. 



Spruce is, for the nuost part, the 

 only timber there which is large 

 enough for saw-timber or railway 

 ties. The poplar, birch and jack 

 pine are too short, spindly, limby 

 and crooked for anything but fuel 

 and pulpwood. Practically all the 

 tamarack has been killed by insects ; 

 'we did not find two hundred green 

 tamarack above ten inches in diam- 

 eter all summer, ' writes Mr. Dickson. 



The total number of ties available 

 in the district traversed is estimated 

 at some 360,000; the saw-timber 

 totals about nine and a half million 

 feet. For pile timber dead tamarack 

 and the largest of the close-grained 

 black spruce could be used. The 

 possible supply of fuelwood is enor- 

 mous. There will also be a large 

 supply of pulpwood, but much of the 

 timber is as yet too small even for 

 pulping. 



Rate of Growth of Trees. 



The rate of growth, as far as ob- 

 served, is generally decidedly slow. 

 Black spruce takes, on the average, 

 one hundred years to attain a diam- 

 eter of four to five inches, and in 



the same period white spruce grows 

 to a diameter of eight to twelve 

 inches, and poplar to eight to ten 

 inches. 'I saw no jack pine stand 

 where the trees averasred even six 

 inches in diameter, ' the author of the 

 report says. The slow rates of 

 growth are largely due to the cold 

 wet soil of the undrained muskegs 

 which cover so much of the dis- 

 trict. 



Danger from Fire and Insects. 



'The fire loss and danger is ap- 

 palling,' to use Mr. Dickson's words. 

 Tavo great fires have occurred, ap- 

 proximately forty and eighty years 

 ago, respectively, and practically 

 every corner of the region has been 

 burned over by these. Instances were 

 frequently noted where these fires 

 had evidently leaped lakes over a 

 mile in width. Fires frequently live 

 in dry moss all winter and break out 

 again in spring. 



The work of the fires is supple- 

 mented by that of the bark beetles. 

 Not only have these insects killed 

 practically all the tamarack but they 

 are now at work destroying the scat- 

 tered patches of mature spruce. 

 When the beetles have finished their 

 work and killed the trees, a strong 

 wind overthrows these. Finally 

 lightning sets fire to the tangle of 

 debris resulting, and fire starts and 

 may run over mile after mile of the 

 country. 



The report makes a number of sug- 

 gestions for the better protection of 

 the region from fire ; but the district 

 is extensive and practically unin- 

 habited, so that if a fire starts the 

 chances of controlling it, even with 

 a good ranger system, are not at all 

 certain. An interesting point to note 

 is that the Indians of the region are 

 much more careful with fire than the 

 white men. 



Brief remarks of much interest 

 are made with regard to the topo- 

 graphy, soil, vegetation and climate 

 of the region, its mineral resources, 

 fisheries, game and fur animals and 

 other topics. 



