76 



Canadian Forestry Journal, February, 1919 



done for a better knowledge of spruce reproduc- 

 tion does not apply to pine except for an experi- 

 ment station started on the Petawawa Military 

 Reserve by the Dominion Forestry Branch. 



Public Still Believe It. 



The greatest single stumbling block in the way 

 of forest conservation in Canada is the inherited 

 notion of our great grandfathers that the forest 

 is a transient, a sort of way-station between the 

 primeval wilderness and the ultimate farm. 

 This is fundamentally vicious. Pioneer times 

 are over. There is very little forest, except in 

 the Ontario and Quebec clay belts, that should 

 be cleared for farms, for two-thirds of the whole 

 Dominion is unfitted for agriculture. At the 



same time, we have enormous areas of lands, 

 cleared by fire or axe, that must be returned to 

 forest. The emphasis, therefore, has shifted to 

 the opposite scale. Restoring the forest lands, 

 guarding existing timber from fire, regulating the 

 axe so as to keep the forest paying rich divid- 

 ends for all time to come. 



Sylviculture -the art of growing repeated 

 crops of timber on non-agricultural soils -is not 

 an exotic in Canada. It is long-headed business 

 sense that first came to light m the wake of 

 exhausted virgin forests. It is frugality and 

 caution after a night of prodigal waste. It is 

 keen business foresight, it is love of national 

 freedom, it is reverence for past and respect for 

 future. But above all it is business. 



RESOLUTIONS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING CF.A. 



The following resolution urging upon the 

 Dominion Government the placing of the Can- 

 adian National Railways under jurisdiction of 

 the Board of Railway Commissioners so as to 

 secure uniform fire protective methods on all 

 railway lines of Canada was proposed by Mr. 

 W. E. Golding, managing-director of the New 

 Brunswick Railway Co., St. John, and carried: 



"Whereas the Board of Railway Commission- 

 ers of Canada has jurisdiction over nearly all 

 privately-owned railways in Canada, and the 

 efficiency of the fire protective measures of such 

 railways has been largely increased by reason 

 thereof; 



"And whereas the roads formerly known as 

 Government Railways have not been brought 

 under the jurisdiction of the aforesaid board, it 

 is advisable that all such railways should be 

 subject to the jurisdiction of such board in all 

 matters having to do with the safety of our 

 forests, and should be subject to the same rules 

 and regulations regarding the fighting of forest 

 fire hazard as may be considered necessary by 

 the said Board of Railway Commissioners. 



"That this convention places itself strongly 

 on record in favor of having all the lines of the 

 Canadian National Railways under control of the 

 Board of Railway Commissioners, and of taking 

 the necessary measures to bring this resolution 

 to the attention of the Government, and to urge 

 that the necessary legislation be prepared and 

 be brought before the next session of Parliament 

 to make the same effective." 



Survey of Timber. 



Another resolution was passed at the instance 



of W. Gerard Power, President, Canadian Lum- 

 bermen's Association that: 



"Whereas an accurate survey of all standing 

 tim^ber in Canada, showing the various kinds of 

 lumber, the quality, location and accessibility, 

 together with available means of transporting 

 same to the nearest market, also a report of all 

 cut-over lands which are suitable only for forest 

 growth, with the extent and location of same, 

 would be most valuable information, not only to 

 lumber operators, but to the various Dominion 

 and provincial governments, enabling them to 

 develop to the full extent a permanent forest 

 policy which would have the effect of conserving 

 the great natural resources contained in Cana- 

 da's forests; 



"Be it resolved that the Canadian Forestry 

 Association urge upon the proper governmental 

 authorities to provide adequate financial assist- 

 ance, and clothe the Commission of Conservation 

 with the necessary authority for the purpose of 

 accomplishing the end in view; 



"Further, that the lumbermen of Canada 

 pledge their assistance to the Commission of 

 Conservation to this end." 



Reference to the development of a national 

 aerial service in forest fire detection and forest 

 mapping was made in the following resolution, 

 which was carried: 



"Resolved that the various interested depart- 

 ments of the Federal Government be urged to 

 use or donate the aeroplanes and flying boats 

 now in their hands for forest fire protection and 

 for the estimation of the forest resources of the 

 Dominion, and that a committee be appointed to 

 wait upon the Militia and Marine departments 

 to this end." 



