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Canadian Forestry Journal, Jul)), 1919 



A QUESTION FOR NEW BRUNSWICK 



By Angus McLean, President, Bathurst Lumber Compan]), 

 Bathurst, N.B. 



Development of Pulp and Paper Industries is a Stimulant 

 New Employment and Closer Utilization. 



to 



MR. McLEAN'S CONTENTIONS: 



Stamp out forest fires. 



Encourage establishment of pulp and paper 

 industries to utilize maximum values from the 

 forest. 



Reclaim waste lands for timber. 



Discourage extravagant practices of sawmills. 



Bathurst, N.B.. July 1, 1919. 



Editor Canadian Forestry Journal, — I have a 

 request from the Editor for a short letter touch- 

 ing on the forestry conditions in New Brunswick. 

 I am, of course, more familiar with conditions 

 prevailing on the north shore of the provmce, 

 but conditions vary but very little in the whole 

 of this province and they are also very similar 

 to conditions prevailing in Nova Scotia. 



In this country we are not subject to any 

 serious forest fire hazard and with any kmd of 

 ordinary care we should completely abolish this 

 hazard. This condition is due to the fact that 

 we have a heavy precipitation here during the 

 periods that are usually dangerous for fires. 

 Then we invariably get early snows and they 

 cover the ground in the woods usually up to 

 the 1st of May and in the thick forests very 

 often up to the early part of June. By that 

 time the green undergrowth in the woods is up 

 and covers the ground so that fires do not run. 

 Our experience of ten years here has been so 

 ^iniformly satisfactory in this respect that we are 

 quite satisfied we are practically at the poirit 

 where we will absolutely eliminate this hazard. 

 We have had a few minor fires in our wood- 

 lands, but they have always been extinguished 

 ^fore much if any damage was done, so that 

 Our loss from bush fires covering this ten year 

 period has been practically nil. What fires 

 hav" taken place were invariably started by 

 so'^p settler burning up his slash without proper 

 supervision. Our Minister of Crown Lands, Dr. 

 Smith has taken the necessary and proper steps 



to stop this hazard and regulate the burning of 

 all slash in the future, and we are convinced he 

 will succeed. 



Bog Lands. 



Most of our woodlands have a thriving growth 

 of young timber on them, but we have some 

 areas of bog and burned-over territory which 

 should be receiving attention and prepared to 

 produce timber, as most of our lands are not 

 fit for farming and are only suitable for grow- 

 ing trees. The bog lands ought to be drained 

 and the old burned-over lands ,of many years 

 standing, put into shape that young trees could 

 grow on them. This requires some attention 

 from a practiced forester. Apart from these 

 above-named lands our timber reproduces itself 

 without any artificial effort whatever. Please 

 remember that these burned-over areas are of 

 long standing and they were largely caused by 

 hunters who claimed they needed open areas in 

 the forest in order to get game as the moose and 

 deer could not be successfully hunted in the 

 dense growth. 



More Careful Cutting. 



Next and one of the most important matters 

 is the cutting of timber. This, of course, is 

 dojie under government regulations when cut- 

 ting on Crown lands. There has , however, been 

 very great loss caused in cutting timber in our 

 forests here in the past, owing to the small 

 trees cut in yarding and making roads being 

 allowed to remain in the woods to rot and also 

 when trees are felled too much timber is left 

 at the stump in way of butting and large tops. 

 Am quite sure fully one-quarter of the trees has 

 been wasted in this way in the past. Of course 

 in the ordinary course of lumbering for sawn 

 lumber only, it is not feasible to take out the 

 defective butts and small tops profitably, but 

 these can all be used profitably in the pulp and 

 paper industry and this is in the line our Pro- 

 vincial Government should devote some time to, 

 and encourage these establishments in every pos- 

 sible way. 



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