126 



Canadian Forestty Journal. 



ed having finished his examination 

 of the country east of the Hudson 

 Bay Company's post at Lac Seul, 

 the Trout Lake watershed, and the 

 Wenesaga River. His associate, Mr. 

 Moodie, was then working Red Lake 

 and Gull Lake watersheds, Mr. 

 Curry being on the point of leaving 

 for the Medicine Stone and Long 

 Lake Rivers. A tract of country 

 between the Wenesaga River and 

 the Hudson Bay post at Lac Seul 

 was still to be covered but would 

 probably be finished about the end 

 of October. 



Mr. F. W. Beard concluded his 

 survey of the timber along the pro- 

 posed route of the Hudson Bay Ry., 

 having traversed the Nelson river 

 down to Hudson Bay and reached 

 Ottawa about the middle of Septem- 

 ber. An article descriptive of his 

 work will be found elsewhere in this 

 issue. 



Further work in the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Forest Reserve was undertaken 

 this summer in the direction of sil- 

 vicultural studies on the Reserve, 

 these investigations being entrusted 

 to Mr. T. W. Dwight, a graduate of 

 the University of Toronto in Fores- 

 try in 1910, who this spring finish- 

 ed a graduate course at the Yale 

 Forest School. Instructions were 

 given to Mr. Dwight to devote his 

 whole time to the collection of sil- 

 vicultural data in regard to the for- 

 ests of the southern part of the re- 

 serve, especially those affecting the 

 administration of the reserve. 

 Special subjects of study were to be 

 the old burns, old cuttings and the 

 mature forests, and the factors in- 

 fluencing the reproduction and 

 character of the forests. These were 

 to be such as might determine the 

 species of trees to be encouraged 

 and how this should be done. He 

 was then to visit the Deerlodge Na- 

 tional Forest, which is included in 

 District No. 1 of the U. S. National 

 Forests and to study their methods 

 of handling Engelmann spruce and 

 lodgepole pine forests. 



From July 1st to July 29th Mr. 

 Dwight remained in the neighbor- 

 hood of Coleman, Alta., chiefly in 

 the valley of the Crowsnest River. 

 Most of the time was occupied with 

 studies of sample plots in various 

 types of virgin forests in order to 

 ascertain the relations of associated 

 species and of volunteer growth, and 

 the conditions of timbered areas. 

 Strips were also run to determine 

 the average amount of reproduction 

 on certain areas. The first two 

 weeks of August Mr. Dwight spent 

 on the southern branch of the Sheep 

 River near Okotoks and the latter 

 half of the month near Banff, chief- 

 ly on the Spray River. A few days 

 at the beginning of September were 

 spent in the holdings of the Eau 

 Claire Lumber Co., on the Ghost 

 River. Attention was also given to 

 the effects of clearing and damage 

 caused to pine by the dwarf mis- 

 tletoe and to spruce by the rust. 



Mr. Dwight then proceeded to 

 Missoula, Montana, and spent some 

 time in the Deerlodge National For- 

 est studying especially timber sale 

 methods, the nursery, the creosoting 

 plant, and reconnaissance methods, 

 yield table work, marking and brush 

 disposal. 



The most of October has been tak- 

 en up in the making of growth 

 studies on the Maclaren Lumber 

 Company's limits near Coleman. 



BEECH FOR RAILWAY TIES. 



A writer in a recent number of th.e Ger- 

 man 'Forst und Jagd Zeitung' gives in- 

 teresting particulars regarding the use of 

 beech for railway ties. Beech ties are 

 all, of course, treated with preservatives. 

 Thus treated, they are said to be more 

 durable than oak and to hold screws bet- 

 ter. The wood must be perfectly sound 

 and well seasoned. It is first treated with 

 thirty to forty pounds of a weak solution 

 of mercuric chloride, after which, by the 

 recent methods of injection, some thirty- 

 five pounds of tar oil (creosote) suffice to 

 render it immune from disease. After in- 

 jection a beech tie will weigh about 260 

 lbs., an oak tie about 220 lbs., and a pine 

 tie about 150 lbs. 



