Canadian Forestry Journal, July, 1919 



323 



a chronic condition owing to the depletion of 

 American supplies on which we have heretofore 

 depended. Once a coal mine is worked out it 

 is done for. Coal does not grow like trees. True, 

 there is wood in the north country, but wood 

 is such a bulky article that the distance over 

 which it can be transported, sove at ruinous 

 cost, is limited. Furthermore, the hardwood 

 area does not extend so very far north, and soft- 

 wood is a most unsatisfactory material for the 

 supply of heat in winter. 



Should be Self-Supporting in Fue/. 

 Old Ontario should be self-supporting in the 

 matter of fuel, and could be made so in a com- 

 paratively few years if land practically valueless 

 for agricultural purposes were devoted to its 

 proper use — the growing of trees. There is not 

 a county in old Ontario in which there is not 

 some land that is useful for no other purpose. 

 Even in some of what we call "good counties" 

 there are considerable areas that are worse than 

 useless with the timber off them — that threaten 

 to become sand wastes, and as such a menace 

 to good agricultural land in the neighborhood. 

 This is true of Huron, of Simcoe, of Durham, 

 and of other couties that might be named. 



Other Advantages to be Gained. 



With these waste areas reforested the force 

 of the wind would be moderated, water would 

 be more abundant in streams and springs, rain- 

 fall would be more dependable, good land would 

 be more productive. Incidentally, by a proper 

 system of conservation applied to the timber 

 growth, an abundant supply of excellent fuel 

 would be assured for all time at moderate cost. 



Nor would it be necessary to wait so very long 

 before returns would begin to come in from 

 planting. Beech and hard maple are slow grow- 

 ers, but Manitoba maples grow quickly into use- 

 ful wood. Willows, planted in marshy places 

 make rapid growth, and when a willow tree is 

 cut down fresh growth will start from the stump. 

 And willow makes good summer fuel at least. 

 Even beech and maple do not take so very long 

 to make iheir growth. Men in the prime of life 

 can point to maples nearly two feet in diameter 

 that they planted as saplings. 



Community Effort Called For. 



How is the work of reforesting waste areas in 

 this province to be carried out? It is useless to 

 depend on individual effort for what should be 

 done. Not many men will plant where they 

 cannot expect to reap. Besides, a man may set 

 out a plantation to-day that his successor of to- 

 morrow may look upon as an encumbrance, or 

 at least treat with neglect. Community effort. 



either through the province or municipaHties, or 

 both combined, is called for. 



Here is a work wherein soldiers m large num- 

 bers could be given profitable and congenial em- 

 ployment. After their experience in war, where 

 men have been assembled in large numbers, the 

 comparative isolation of farm life will be irk- 

 some to most of the returned men. After life in 

 the open the confinement of factory or office 

 will be equally irksome in many cases. Forestry 

 work is done in the open, and considerable num- 

 bers can be associated together m that work. 

 The life of the forester is one that should make 

 special appeal to thousands of our men now 

 overseas Protection Alone Necessary. 



An extensive undertaking in planting is not 

 necessarily called for, at least at the start. There 

 are thousands of acres, with scattered timber, 

 that need only to have cattle fenced out and fire 

 guarded against to become dense forests of valu- 

 able timber in a short time. Even where plant- 

 ing is necessary it is not such very slow work. 

 Two men, working at moderate speed, can plant 

 an acres in a day with trees five feet apart each 

 way. 



But individual effort can be made to count 

 as well. There are thousands upon thousands 

 of farms with from two to ten acres of land 

 that should be in bush. Thees for the planting 

 of such farm wood lots can be had, free of cost, 

 from the provincial forestry nurseries. If a 

 thousand formers could be induced to start such 

 planting next spring they would do a good thing 

 for themselves, a good thing for their neighbors, 

 and their action might stimulate the provincial 

 authorities to undertake forestry work on a 

 province-wide basis. 



AIR PATROL IN B. C. 



Victoria, B.C. — An average year of fire pro- 

 tection and control costs the province some- 

 thing like $250,000 and in round figures one- 

 lifth of that amount is absorbed by No. I Forest 

 District, which embraces Vancouver localities 

 and Vancouver Island. It was Hon. Mr. Pat- 

 tullo's proposal to experiment in No. 1 District 

 this year; but in view of the dangerous haz- 

 ards he sees the necessity of maintaining the full 

 regular service until the practicability of patrol 

 from the air shall have been established. .\n 

 approximate estimated cost of the first year's 

 experiment including the major portion of the 

 initial outlays in No. 1 District is placed at 

 $40,000, and the suggestion is that the province 

 should contribute half and the Dominion the 

 other half of the expense. 



