212 



Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 1919 



A LAND OF FORESTS— WITHOUT FORESTRY 



By Dr. C. D. Howe, Faculty of Forestry, Toronto, 

 in Address to Toronto Board of Trade. 



"Canada Stands Almost Naked of Any For- 

 estry Practice — A Plain-Spoken Indict- 

 ment of Forest Management 



Not long ago I attended a meeting of business 

 men and university professors gathered to listen 

 to reports upon the progress of industrial re- 

 search in Canada. Being Toronto business men 

 and,- therefore, doers as well as seers, some of 

 them seemed inclined to express impatience 

 that matters in the hands of the Research Coun- 

 cil at Ottawa had not developed more rapidly. 

 One of the gentlemen made the remark: "Can- 

 dida stands almost naked of industrial research, 

 of co-operation between the scientists and the 

 business men." Another, in replying, said, in 

 effect: "We must have patience. New ideas 

 develop slowly". Then to use what he doubt- 

 less considered a convincing illustration, he re- 

 marked, with a great deal of emphasis: *T re- 

 member 25 or 30 years ago we had to be told 

 what forestry meant. It was an entirely new 

 thing. Now, every big lumber company or 

 pulpwood concern has a forester. They could 

 not do business without one. 



The statements of these two gentlemen made 

 a deep impression upon me, the first because 

 of its terse descriptive quality, and the second 

 because of the profundity of ignorance which 

 it displayed. Since the second statement re- 

 flects a very general public opinion with re- 

 gard to forestry in Canada, I shall combine it 

 with the first and make the remarks quoted the 

 subject of my text and I shall say: After nearly 

 30 years of agitation and effort Canada stands 

 almost naked of any forestry practice, of any 

 definite, carefully formulated plans for the 

 management of forests. 



I make this statement deliberately, although 

 I am aware that it will evoke criticism and per- 

 haps censure. I believe the time is ripe for 

 plain speaking. The forests of the Dominion 

 chiefly rest in Crown lands. They belong to you 

 and you should know into what state their 

 past and present treatment has brought and is 

 bringing them. You should demand an account 

 of stewardship. 



Dr. C. D. Howe, Faculty of Forestry, 

 University of Toronto. 



Forestry Practice Means- 



To make myself clear and to avoid misunder- 

 standing, let me define what forestry practice 

 means. The primary object of forest manage- 

 ment is to maintain unimpaired the capital 

 stock, the forest wealth. Herein lies the differ- 

 ence between lumbering and forestry. Lumber- 

 ing removes the trees with no thought of a 

 future forest crop on the same area; forestry 

 practice removes the trees only after careful 

 planning for the future crop. When this fun- 

 damental object has been accomplished, the 

 next procedure in order is, if possible, to in- 

 crease the earning capacity of the capital in- 

 vested in the forest. Although minor objects 

 and methods of technique may differ under 

 varying circumstances, these are the two elem- 

 ental principles at the base of all forestry prac- 



