Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 1919 



205 



direct result of years of agitation by the Am- 

 erican Forestry Association and other public- 

 spirited organizations, which recognized fully 

 the anomaly of the existing situation. The Do- 

 minion Lands Act, Section 58, would appear to 

 confer upon the Dominion Forestry Branch jur- 

 isdiction in technical matters. However, if so, 

 this provision has not been made effective as to 

 licensed lands. Cutting on these lands is thus 

 allowed to take place without due regard to the 

 interests of the future, which demand that 

 operations be conducted in such a way that 

 the forest shall be perpetuated. The Dominion 

 Government can take but partial credit for the 

 practice of conservation upon its forest lands 

 so long as this condition is permitted to 

 continue. 



An Heirloom Policy. 

 It should also be emphasized that the present 

 anomalous condition is a heritage from former 

 times, when the importance of conservative 

 methods of cutting was not realized. The pres- 

 ent agitation for a change in this respect is, 

 therefore, not in any sense a criticism of the ex- 

 isting Government, but is calculated to educate 

 public sentiment to the point where it would ap- 

 prove action by a progressive Government in the 

 direction of correcting the mistakes of previous 

 administrations. The transfer of the adminis- 

 tration of technical forestry work on licensed 

 timber lands to the Dominion Forestry Branch 

 would constitute a land-mark in the forest his- 

 tory of Canada, which would reflect very great 

 credit upon the Government which should make 

 such provision. It is believed that the time is 

 now ripe for action along these lines. It should 

 be noted that this action has been recommended 

 by the Commission of Conservation during the 

 past five years, also, of course, for years by the 

 Dominion Forestry Branch, as a departmental 

 matter. 



HANDLING WESTERN FORESTS. 



i.ditorial in the Winnipeg Tribune, April 18, 1919. 



"As things have worked out in Canada, the 

 administration of the best timber areas on 

 Dominion lands has ben left under the adminis- 

 tration of the old timber office which has in 

 \ iew mainly the collection of revenue and the 

 limber operations have been carried on with 

 little or no supervision and with almost no re- 

 1 gard for the conditions that will follow the 

 f operations or for the production of a new crop. 

 This means that the present crop of mature tim- 

 ber which does not cover more than thirty per 



cent of the area usually shown as timbered, is 

 being steadily reduced every year without any 

 careful consideration of what is to follow or 

 how the crop is to be perpetuated. 



"It is suggested that before any tract or 

 forest is put up for sale or operations authorized 

 on it thorough information should be obtained 

 on the following points: (I) The probability of 

 a market for the products; (2) the conditions 

 of climate, wind and soil; and (3) the com- 

 position of the forest as to tree species and the 

 relations they serve toward one another. It is 

 only after information of this kind, which will 

 vary considerably on every tract of forest, has 

 been obtained that the formulating of a pro- 

 per working plan designed to perpetuate the 

 forest and increase its production is possible. 

 The present administration of a great natural 

 resource is, in the opinion of many, behind the 

 times." 



WOOD FOR AEROPLANES. 



The American Lumberman feels confident that 

 the manufacture of aeroplane spruce is due for 

 a great revival. "Therefore," it says, "lumber 

 manufacturers who have during the war gained 

 experience in the production of airplane lum- 

 ber should keep an eye on the future and de- 

 velop this field. The most successful and 

 satisfactory building material for an airplane 

 is wood, but that wood has to be perfect and 

 correctly handled. If supplies are hard to ob- 

 tain or if they are not satisfactory in character 

 the manufacturers of airplanes will turn to other 

 materials. For example, a Frenchman already 

 has perfected an airplane made entirely of steel 

 and it is said to operate successfully. Prac- 

 tically 6,000,000 motor vehicles were in use in 

 the United States at the beginning of the year 

 and it may not be many years before that many 

 airplanes are in service in this country. Think, 

 therefore, of the wonderful field for lumber that 

 there is in the expansion of the aircraft in- 

 dustrv." 



WARNING! 



THIS is a bad season f or 

 forest fires. 



Watch your campfire and 

 your cijj^arette. 



Every forest fire puts 



somebody out of work. 



