Canadian Forestry Journal, October, 1919 



405 



THE FORESTER— A SKETCH 



An address presented at a meeting of the Sault Ste. Marie Branch of the Engineering Institute 

 of Canada, by W. F. V. Atl^inson, Forester. i 



What is a forester? A forester has some- 

 times been called a "tree farmer" and failmg a 

 more concise description we will let it go at that. 

 The farmer is a producer, so is the forester. The 

 farmer produces at a low cost or he cannot sub- 

 sist by his labors. To do this requires a know- 

 ledge of his work. The more knowledge he has, 

 and the more use he can make of that know- 

 ledge in his work, the better success he is. He 

 needs to know his soil, climate, irrigation, drain- 

 age, and fertilization, the most suitable grains, 

 roots, and other crops including fruits and fruit 

 trees, their various qualities, productiveness, and 

 diseases, methods of preparing land for them and 

 harvesting, and lastly the available markets and 

 how to get his products to them. In all this 

 work he has to deal with human nature, mach- 

 inery, transportation, trade and its requirements. 

 If he is an idealist he can also grow for his per- 

 sonal use and satisfaction some things not neces- 

 sarily marketable. 



The general lines are somewhat parallel to 

 forestry, but forestry is not, as is frequently sup- 

 posed, confined to aboriculture or even to silvi- 

 culture. A forester though often an idealist has 

 from his training been taught that values are the 

 final test whether these are present or future. 

 His whole training has been the apportioning of 

 these values correctly, and the allotting to each 

 subject its proper place in the scale and express- 

 ing these in dollars and cents. For the purpose 

 of this sketch it is not necessary to go into the 

 training and studies required by a forester at the 

 university, but rather to deal with his general 

 work. 



The chief object of his work is to produce 

 the woods required by trade at least cost and to 

 continue to do so. Some of the woods now in 

 demand were of little or no market value years 

 ago, and some which are at present of no market 

 value will undoubtedly be of value in the future. 

 Thus, the history of forestry including the wood 

 trade is essential. The first work required in 

 the practice of his profe'^sion is to locate the 

 various species of trees in the district placed 

 under his charge, and to learn how these are 

 producing wood and the conditions affecting this 

 production. This necessitates surveys of land 

 including topography, and of soil, and also clim- 



atic records, hence, the necessity for accurate 

 history and current records of meterological con- 

 ditions. Type maps showing the production of 

 certain species and their inter-relationship is a 

 second step. The accessibility of woods required 

 to the means of transportation, such as roads, 

 streams, and railroads, and the respective cost 

 of each method is part of this study, as well as 

 how to eventually harvest those trees which are 

 not under present conditions and situation com- 

 mercially available. A course in logging prac- 

 tice in the woods, which can only be acquired 

 by personal experience in the actual work both 

 in the camps and on the rivers, is necessary. If 

 the local conditions should necessitate a change 

 of methods when his work takes him elsewhere, 

 his experience and training will most likely en- 

 able him after close observation to recommend 

 improvements in road-making, tools, and camp 

 paraphernalia generally, all tending towards the 

 most economical methods. Thus, logging eng- 

 ineering IS one line of a forestry training, and 

 includes a certain class of railroad construction, 

 steam and cable hauls in some parts of the 

 country, road and bridge building, as well as the 

 more primitive methods. Stream flow control 

 and improvement, for which actual experience 

 in river "driving" is necessary, is a further part 

 of this work. The various methods employed in 

 logging from the tree to the mills differ in each 

 locality. Custom and the methods employed for 

 many years are retained with a wonderful ten- 

 acity by the workman, and new ideas take a 

 long time to appeal to those who are really 

 skilled in local methods. I have seen sug- 

 gestions made ineffectively time and time again 

 and later, when adopted, become as much the 

 logger's creed as their former methods were. 



But if the administrative position is the for- 

 ester's lot, he will have to leave this most fas- 

 cinating part of the work for the larger idea. 

 The engagement, control, and supplying of 

 logging gangs is not the object of his training, 

 but he can assist this work by tactful co-opera- 

 tion with the superintendents and foremen, and 

 should know that the logging outlay is propor- 

 tionate to the quantity of wood to be produced 

 in each operation, amongst other matters, that 

 the cost of buildings, and particularly roads 



