Canadian Forestry Journal, October, 1919 



407 



and bridges, are proportionate to the required 

 tonnage of same, both immediate and future. 

 I beHeve that a great change will be made be- 

 fore many years in the methods of control and 

 direction of logging operations. 



Amongst the forester's first duties is to know 

 if the demand for certain species will be re- 

 gular and contmuous, and whether this demand 

 is not for such quantities and dimensions as 

 are inimical to the best results from the avail- 

 able source of production, that is to say, the 

 forest under his charge, and what percentage of 

 loss is entailed in producing the specified timber, 

 in the forest, in transportation, and in the manu- 

 facture. This entails inspection at all stages 

 and places of the work. 



Measurements at all points therefore are of 

 interest and these are not only of bulk, board 

 measure, cubic feet, cords, or otherwise, but 

 also of the weight of the material. 



If the demand is fixed as to quantity and 

 quality and defined as to species, then from his 

 type maps and topography, growth studies and 

 volume tables, he can fix working plans of the 

 areas, and for the required quantities, with 

 regulations as to selection methods in sizes and 

 species. The plan of a total clean-up (clear 

 cut) is not usual in this country and thus like 

 other drastic methods must be undertaken only 

 when the whole forest policy is fixed, including 

 tenure, dues, rents, taxes, interest rates, and 

 prospective costs at all stages, etc. 



If the annual demand is not greater than the 

 area can produce under accelerated and im- 

 proved growth conditions, he can fix upon 

 rotation cuttings of the required timber; growth 

 increment in untouched forests is not often 

 greater than the natural losses. A rotation of 

 cuttings under the present conditions in this 

 country is not a fully accepted idea by the tim- 

 ber owners, but it is the ideal, and it is the 

 method accepted in countries where foresters 

 are considered a necessity. Where the cuttings 

 must be annual, as is usual in Canada, and the 

 production required is large, timber areas must 

 be extremely large to establish a rotation; thus 

 protection and assistance to the immature crop 

 becomes an important branch of the work. In 

 this respect drainage, light by thinnings, and 

 protection from fire are amongst the larger 

 issues. On these points many interesting facts 

 which have been noted would surprise the non- 

 technical observer. 



Again, the immature crop can be augmented 

 by judicious planting, making a greater yield 

 per acre, and per mile of haul. This should 

 only be done for commercial purposes where the 

 soil is suitable and the logging inexpensive. 

 Further, there is the method of acquiring really 

 suitable ground for a new forest of the required 

 species, laying it out in roads and sections for 

 the purposes of cheap logging, and afterwards 

 planting it with the most suitable species in 

 point of growth rapidity of the wood required 

 for the purposes in view. Seeding in the forest 

 for this purpose is not sufficiently certain or 

 rapid to be satisfactory. 



The introduction and use of new kinds of 

 wood in the different trades is another line of 

 investigation. Our forest products laboratories 

 have helped the forest administration very 

 greatly in this respect. This work is also a line 

 of specialization. 



From these remarks it will be seen that for- 

 estry opens many avenues for work and study; 

 that it aims like the farmer to produce material 

 required for the use of man. The number of 

 cubic feet of wood used (per capita) is increas- 

 ing continually. The exact quantity, however, 

 is hard to estimate in a country like this which 

 exports large quantities of the manufactured 

 products of the forest, and where waste, owing 

 to ignorance of the rapidly diminishing supply, 

 is so great. 



The forester is continually in touch with the 

 civil engineer, as these few remarks show, and 

 from his work and accumulated data has also 

 special advantages in regulating the waters in 

 the rivers draining his districts, and which 

 supply not only the means of transport for such 

 woods as will float, but also supply the power 

 where his "civil" confrere has constructed his 

 mills or power-house. The maintenance or 

 change of forest cover are no small factor in 

 stream control. A great deal of the informa- 

 tion acquired by the forest engineer should be 

 of use to civil engineers undertaking new de- 

 velopments, and those will generally be found 

 minutely and carefully charted as the use of 

 curves for tree growth, volume tables, and other 

 purposes is the general method. Speaking for 

 the profession I may say that co-operation, 

 lucidity, and professional etiquette are points on 

 which all foresters are united. 



