The Future of British Columbia Lumbering. 



IS9 



almoHt eternal dampness of the 

 dense forcHtH. The topography, too, 

 presents harriers to the running of 

 fires over hirgt' areas. Kurth«*r- 

 more, the (hirahility and large size 

 of the Douglas fir and the red cedar, 

 together with the comparative ab- 

 sence of injurious horing-insects on 

 the l)urricd-over hinds, nuikc it pos- 

 sihh' to h)g these timhers for uumy 

 years after they have been killed by 

 fire. 



The red cedar is especially good' 

 in this respect, and is sawn into the 

 finest of lumber and shingles fifty 

 years after being killed by fire. It 

 is bound to be profitable, as for iuilf 

 a century the increasing value of 

 standing timber has made its owner- 

 ship about the most consistently 

 profitable of all lines of American 

 investment. 



Standing timber has been increas- 

 ing in value for half a century with- 

 out a set-back. At present the 

 world's supply of timber is being 

 cut some threefold faster than it is 

 being renewed by growth. The 

 stumpage values of the leading tim- 

 bers of North America east of the 

 mountains have increased from 

 thirty to ninety cents or more per 

 thousand feet board measure per 

 annum duriner recent years, the av- 

 erage for all softwoods being more 

 than fifty cents per M per annum. 

 Wliat has become history east of the 

 mountains will certainly become fact 

 on the Pacific Coast upon the com- 

 pletion of the Panama canal. This 

 indicates an enormous return for 

 stumpage at $2 per M, but first- 

 class stumpage may still be secured 

 for $1. or even less, a figure which 

 may well be regarded as nominal 

 when the high (piality of the tiinher 

 is considered. 



The doubling, trebling and quad- 

 rupling of the logging and manufac- 

 turing facilities during the coming 

 decade will also offer large scope for 

 the investment of capital. This will 

 be an especially attractive field for 

 far-sighted men who will have earl- 

 ier secured a suitable reserve of raw 



material. An earnest of what i« to 

 come along these lines is the comple- 

 tion last year of one of the largest 

 sawmills in the world on the Fraser 

 river, and the present building, at 

 a cost of several millionM, of a very 

 large and strictly up-to-date paper 

 mill at Powell Kiver. 



But the door of opportunity is 

 open not alone to the investor of 

 large means. The British Columbia 

 coast is peculiar in the amazing 

 length of its coast line and the won- 

 derful series of protected inside 

 channels which admit of cheap tow- 

 age of logs to central points for 

 manufacture. These waterways are 

 bordered with timber tracts, many 

 of which are of small size and there- 

 fore available for the men of moder- 

 ate means who are looking for a 

 start in business. Advantage has 

 been taken of these favorable condi- 

 tions, and the coast is already dotted 

 with small logging outfits. Oppor- 

 tunity in this direction will be open 

 for some years to come, but all the 

 easy logging opportunities ^ill 

 eventually have been worked, and 

 logging will have passed into hands 

 financially strong enough to build 

 railways and other expensive devel- 

 opments. Another opportunity for 

 the man of limited capital will have 

 come when imminent exhaustion of 

 their own cedar resources will have 

 forced the United States to come to 

 British Columbia for their shingles. 

 If this has not already come before 

 the Panama canal is completed, it 

 wMIl then be assured, and small 

 shingle mills will presently be found 

 dotting the coast, utilizing the vast 

 quantities of cedar now left as 

 waste on the slashings. 



But the great future of the lum- 

 ber industry of British Columbia 

 will assure large opportunities for 

 the man of brains and energy, al- 

 though without capital other than 

 confidence in {himself and the 

 country. The opportunities will 

 range from that of logging camp 

 foreman or sales agent to that of 



( Comiintted om pagt t6j) 



