1 62 



Caiiadian Forestry Journal 



Mining Timber. 



Eeports were received from one hundred 

 and thirty six coal and ore mines in the 

 various provinces. Of these, fifty nine were 

 in British Columbia, twenty seven in On- 

 tario, twenty in Alterta, fifteen in Nova 

 Scotia, nine in the Yukon Territory, four 

 in Saskatchewan, and tAvo in Manitoba. A 

 great many Canadian mines do not use tim- 

 ber in their operations. 



The mining timber has been divided into 

 two main classes, viz., round timbers and 

 sawn timbers. The round timbers are those 

 used underground to give artificial support 

 for roofs or walls, and to protect shafts, 

 drifts and gangways. The sawn timber re- 

 ported is mostly lumber, together with a 

 small quantity of square timber, and is used 

 principally for breakers, tipples, washers, 

 trestles, and mining buildings generally. 



The total value of the timber vised in the 

 mines was $827,337, composed of 52,848,000 

 linear feet of round timber worth $523,339, 

 and 22,305,000 board feet of sawn timber 

 costing $303,998. 



Three provinces of Canada consumed 98.6 

 per cent of the timber used in mining; 

 these provinces are British Columbia, which 

 used fifty five per cent (29,047,000 linear 

 feet). Nova Scotia, which used thirty per 

 cent (15,653,000 linear feet) and Alberta, 

 which used fourteen per cent (7,484,000 

 linear feet). The average cost per thousand 

 linear feet ranges from $37.90 in the Yukon 

 Territory to $7.01 in British Columbia. The 

 mines of Nova Scotia pay on the average 

 $10.74 per thousand linear feet, and those 

 of Alberta $17.75. 



Of the twelve species of wood used, 53.8 

 per cent was Douglas fir, the total quantity 

 used being 28,268,000 linear feet, at a cost 

 of $198,776. Over a quarter of the wood 

 (27.5 per cent) is spruce, the quantity con- 

 sumed being 14,417,000 linear feet and the 

 cost $179,734. Of jack pine, the third spe- 

 cies in importance, 4,455,000 linear feet were 

 used, costing $66,751; this includes both the 

 eastern jack pine and the lodgepole pine. 



These three species furnished ninety per 

 cent of the round timber used. Other spe- 

 cies used were balsam fir, hemlock, tamarack, 

 pine, birch, poplar, cedar, maple and beech. 



The largest part of the round mining tim- 

 ber used ranged from five to nine inches in 

 diameter. Thirty one million, nine hundred 

 and sixty seven thousand (31,967,000) linear 

 feet of the total of 52,848,000 feet falls into 

 this class. The average cost of timber of 

 this size was $12.63 per thousand linear feet. 

 Over one third of the total consumption (19,- 

 046,000 feet) was less than five inches in 

 diameter and cost but $2.66 per thousand 

 linear feet. The timber under five inches in 

 diameter was practically all Douglas fir used 

 by the large coal companies of British Col- 

 umbia. 



Of sawn timber 22,305,000 board feet were 

 used, the total value of which was $303,998, 



an average value of $13.63 per thousand. Of 

 the total amount, British Columbia used over 

 fifty per cent. Alberta twenty five, and Nova 

 Scotia fifteen per cent. Douglas fir consti- 

 tuted over one half (56 per cent) of the 

 total quantity used, spruce almost twenty 

 one per cent, and tamarack 8.6 per cent, the 

 three wootls together forming over eighty 

 six per cent of the total quantity. 



Poles. 



The total number of poles purchased in 

 Canada during 1910 was 782,841, the in- 

 crease over the number reported for 1909 

 being 434,586 (118 per cent). The total 

 value at the point of purchase was $1,- 

 043,874, an increase of $546,882 over the 

 value in 1909. The average cost of poles 

 was $1.39 in 1909 and $1.33 in 1910. 



Cedar poles form over ninety nine per 

 cent of the total; it is practically the only 

 Canadian wood growing to a convenient pole 

 size which is cheap, easily handled and dur- 

 able. A few chestnut poles were reported 

 from the United States. 



Seventy five per cent of the total number 

 of poles used are from twenty to twenty 

 five feet in length. Th cheapest poles are 

 chestnut, with cedar a close second. 



In 1910, reports were obtained from five 

 hundred and fifty nine companies, almost 

 ninety per cent of the total number operat- 

 ing; of these two hundred and ninety one 

 were electric light and power companies, one 

 hundred and sixty one telegraph companies, 

 sixty two steam railway companies, forty one 

 electric railway companies and four tele- 

 phone companies. Two hundred and eighty 

 three operated in Ontario, ninety-four in 

 Quebec, thirty nine in Nova Scotia, thirty 

 five in Saskatchewan, twenty seven in Al- 

 berta, twenty three in New Brunswick, 

 twenty three in British Columbia, seventeen 

 in Manitoba, and ten in Prince Edward 

 Island; eight were United States companies 

 operating in Canada. 



Interesting tables are given comparing 

 the prices of cedar and spruce poles in Can- 

 ada and the United States in the year 1909. 

 These show that up to thirty feet cedar poles 

 are more expensive in Canada than in the 

 United States; above that length they be- 

 come cheaper. As seventy five per cent of 

 the poles used in Canada, however, are thirty 

 feet or less in length, the Canadian com- 

 panies pay more for them than do United 

 States companies. Spruce poles, on the 

 other hand, are cheaper in Canada than the 

 United States up to twenty-five feet in 

 length, but poles of greater length than this 

 are more expensive. 



Cooperage. 



Reports as to cooperage production in 

 Canada in 1910 were received from one 

 hundred and thirty three firms, of which one 



