322 



Canadian Forestr}) Journal, July, 1919 



is piled to avoid any possible danger to the 

 standing timber or buildings and if weather 

 conditions are favorable. 



Never at Midday ! 



A settler should never set fire to his slash at 

 midday or when there is a heavy wind blowing. 

 He should always set fire in the evening. Then 

 if anything should go wrong he will have more 

 facilities in extinguishing it. He should never 

 set fire to too many piles at a time; he should 

 burn one or two at a time, as otherwise he would 

 never be able to control them. He should have 

 the necessary help on hand according to the 

 size of slash that he has to burn and always 

 have pails and shovels with him so he can ex- 

 tinguish fire if it should happen to spread. If 

 the fire is still burning in the morning it should 

 be extinguished, except during wet periods, as 

 the heavy winds during the day may cause it to 

 spread. A good time to set fire to a slash is 

 just before it is going to rain, then he will be 

 assured that his fire will never run and cause 

 any damage. 



Have Help at Hand! 



The very best time to burn slash is in the early 

 spring when there is still snow in the woods. 



There is no reason why a settler burning a slash 

 should cause any damage if he takes the neces- 

 sary precautions. He should always remember 

 the followmg: 



1. To pile his slash in heaps. 



2. To have the heaps at least 50 feet from 

 any standing timber or building. 



3. To obtain a written burning permit from 

 the fire ranger. 



4. To never set fire at midday but in the 

 evening, 



5. To never set fire when a heavy wind is 

 blowing. 



6. To have the necessary help at hand to 

 extinguish fire if it should spread. 



7. To have pails and shovels with him. 



8. To never leave a fire before it is com- 

 pletely out. 



9. To try to burn during a wet period. 



10. To always remember that the fire ranger 

 is his friend. 



It is easier to burn slash by taking the neces- 

 sary precautions behorehand than to try to ex- 

 tinguish a large forest fire. 



UP AND DOING! A CALL TO PLANT TREES 



By "Ahmik", Agricultural Editor of "The Globe", Toronto. 



In the plans being formulated for reconstruc- 

 tion forestry should have a leading place. More 

 particularly does this hold true of Ontario and 

 the Western Provinces. The southern part of 

 the prairies are practically a treeless waste. A 

 large portion of the best part of Ontario is being 

 rapidly reduced to the same condition. 



In Huron, which in the memory of men still 

 living was known as "The Queen's Bush", with 

 800,000 acres of assessed land, only 48,000 are 

 in the bush; in Grey, despite the fact that much 

 of the land is fit only for the growing of timber, 

 there are but 1 1 3,000 acres of bush out of more 

 than a million acres assessed. 



In unbroken counties, nearer the front, the 

 showing is much worse. Brant, with 216,000 

 acres assessed, has only a little over 9,000 in 

 bush, and Peel, with 297,000 acres assessed, has 

 a trifle over 8,000 in woodland. There are at 

 least twenty counties which have 80 per cent 

 or more of their area cleared, and even at this 

 "waste", "marsh" and "slash" are included in 

 what is classed as the "uncleared" percentage. 



If the northern districts, such as Parry Sound 

 and Nipissing, are left out it will be found that 

 Ontario, which was all bush a little over a 

 century ago, has a smaller percentage of forest 

 to-day than has Germany, which country has 

 been settled since before the dawn of civiliza- 

 tion. 



A Chilling Prospect. 



In western Ontario, that is, in the portion of 

 Western Ontario south of the Great Lakes, and 

 in eastern Ontario, excluding Renfrew and the 

 unorganized districts, there is not sufficient tim- 

 ber left to provide proper climatic conditions 

 and ensure the conservation of the water 

 supply. If what we speak of as older Ontario 

 were cut off from all outside sources of fuel 

 supply, the population would freeze to death in 

 a few years — that is, unless a wholesale exodus 

 took place. 



And the time may not be far distant when we 

 shall be forced to depend mainly on ourselves 

 for the fuel needed. The coal famine of last 

 year, due to the way, may, before long, become 



