Canadian Forestry Journal, July, 1919 



307 



trees. In a general way it can be said that 

 the fir trees defoHated in 1914 seemed quite vig- 

 orous in 1915; those defoliated in both 1914 

 and 1915 showed growth checks and a slight 

 amount of top injury in 1916; those defoliated 

 successively in 1914, 1915 and 1916 showed 

 severe growth checks and also severe top injury 

 in 1917, and a few of them were killed; while 

 those defoliated in 1917 in addition to the pre- 

 ceding three years were nearly all killed. 



The insect has now been on the rampage for 

 five years and is at last decreasing in numbers. 

 It has killed a very large proportion of the fir 

 trees that are over twenty years of age, but has 

 not effected very much the younger trees whose 

 tops are still in partial shade ; for the moths 

 dislike laying eggs on trees whose tops do not 

 pass through the forest roof. Neither has it 

 effected very much any of the three species of 

 spruce occurring in the province. So that while 

 the damage done has been exceedmgly heavy it 

 has fortunately been confined almost wholly to 

 fir of merchantable size. 



Centuries Before Champlain. 



One is often asked is the insect a new one. 

 No, it is not a new one to the continent, but 

 is a native and it probably occurred in New 

 Brunswick for centuries before Champlain dis- 

 covered the Saint John River in 1 604. We have 

 actual records of these outbreaks of this insect 

 that have occurred in the State of Maine, and 

 probably also in New Brunswick, during the 

 past 1 10 years. 



If history repeats itself, we are due to have 

 another outbreak in twenty or thirty years, and 

 judging from the preponderance of fir in the 

 present reproduction the next outbreak is likely 

 to be far more serious than any of its prede- 

 cessors. Moreover another outbreak seems in- 

 evitable unless active measures are taken to 



How to Prevent Recurrence. 

 A study of conditions in the New Brunswick 

 forest during the present outbreak has brought 

 out the fact that the Budworm has gained no 

 foothold in areas where the Balsam Fir exists 

 in the primeval condition of a mixed growth. 

 Another outbreak would evidently be prevented 

 by so arranging cutting operations as to prevent 

 the formation of solid stands of fir. Just how 

 feasible it will be to prevent the undue produc- 

 tion of fir is not yet clear. The problem how- 

 ever, is one that merits the most earnest con- 

 sideration of those actually controlling the 

 cutting operations, and upon ifs successful solu- 

 tion depends in no small measure the future 

 success of the lumber industry in this province. 



AERIAL PATROL DOES GOOD WORK. 



Flying from March Field, Allessandro, Calif., 

 an army airplane engaged in fire patrol work 

 discovered a fire in the Waterman Canyon, not 

 far from San Bernardino. A message giving the 

 alarm was dropped in San Bernardino at once. 

 Within a few minutes fifty fire-fighters were on 

 the way to the scene of the fire. They arrived 

 in ample time to prevent a destructive blaze. 



There follow some recent notes on fire patrol 

 work by the Air Service from several Cali- 

 fornia aviation fields: 



Exceedingly dry weather over California has 

 caused increased vigilance of the aerial fire 

 patrol and the watch from the observation 

 balloon ^United States Army School Arcadia 

 staff) was maintained throughout the night. 



Mather Field staff, Sacramento, Calif., dur- 

 ing the week ending June 21, 1919, made 21 

 flights over the national forests, discovering four 

 fires which were reported to the Forestry Service 

 at Placerville Calif. The total mileage of the 

 patrol was 3,000 and the patrol pilots were 

 fifty-three hours in the air. 



March Field staff, Allessandro, Calif. — 

 Twenty-four trips were made, occupying thirty- 

 eight hours, covering 2,500 miles. 



Rockwell Field staff, San Diego, Calif. — Eight 

 flights were made in twenty-six hours and 

 twenty-six minutes, covering a distance of 2,1 15 

 miles. 



E. T. Allen, secretary of the Western Forestry 

 and Conservation Association, has long advo- 

 cated the use of aircraft to spot fires on the 

 north Pacific coast and in the Inland Empire. 

 He recently urged that the aerial fire patrol work 

 inaugurated in California be extended up the 

 coast. The Colifornia flyers are patrolling re- 

 gularly over a forested area covering about 

 6,000,000 acres. Estimated by Forest Service 

 experts are that the work could be extended 

 over 90,000,000 acres. 



Aircraft are especially valuable for locating 

 fires in deep canyons and valleys. Frequently 

 the smoke from such fires does not reach the 

 line of vision of the experts in lookout towers on 

 high points until the blaze has had a chance to 

 get a good start. While this form of fire protec- 

 tion always will be expensive, it fits in so well 

 as one of the civil uses for the airplane and 

 lighter-than-air craft and furnishes such excel- 

 lent training for pilots and observers that it 

 may be adopted as a permanent part of the work 

 of the Air Service. 



