412 



Canadian Forestry Journal, October, 1919 



our faces above the surface. We put wet 

 blankets over our heads, for the heat was so 

 intense that our flesh would have burned if we 

 had not taken that precaution. The roar of 

 the flames was tremendous, but we were com- 

 paratively safe. 



"Once I raised the blanket a little to peek 

 and see how the fire was going, and what do 

 you think I saw? There was a big bear perched It was the last I saw of him." 



on a rock right at my feet and looking over at 

 me as if he was ready to jump. I guess he 

 thought I was a rock. 



"We exchanged glances for a while, and I 

 am wilhng to bet that he wasn't any more scared 

 than I was, but as soon as he recovered from 

 the surprise, he turned tail and away he went. 



NEWFOUNDLAND NEEDS A FORESTRY POLICY 



Forests of the Ancient Colony Being Rapidly Depleted 



That sound ideas on the need of a refor- 

 estation policy are abroad in Canada's near 

 neighbor, Newfoundland, are evident from the 

 following article in the Curling (Newfoundland) 

 Star: 



The insatiable needs of civilization are daily 

 devastating the surviving great forests of the 

 world; and in some countries the timber in- 

 dustry is becoming a very serious one — so ser- 

 ious that the eyes of capitalists are being 

 turned to other countries than their own where 

 the forests are in a primeval state. 



In Newfoundland the lumber industry has 

 for a number of years proved a valuable ad- 

 junct to other industries, and hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars are put in circulation to-day 

 from an industry that was in its infancy not so 

 many years smce. 



There are yet many hills and valleys, thickly 

 wooded with heavy timber such as birch, spruce, 

 fir, white pine, and juniper, needing every pos- 

 sible attention that a discerning administration 

 can bestow upon them for their preservation. 



It is very essential for the future of our for- 

 ests that a forestry policy be adopted by our 

 government; and with this object in view it is 

 necessary that a Department of Forestry be 

 established. No one will question such an ar- 

 rangement, for it is a well known fact that our 

 timber areas are fast becoming depleted, and 

 little or no effort is being made to conserve 

 them, or to have a system of afforestration car- 

 ried out. 



There are three ways in which the forests 

 are being swept steadily away: the decay of 



mature trees, the manufacture of lumber, and 

 destruction by fire. There may be differences 

 of opinion as to the best method of preventing 

 the destruction of valuable timber by forest 

 fires; but it will not do to settle down to a do- 

 nothing policy, and certainly not much has yet 

 been accomplished in either direction. 



To-day the people of England and Scotland 

 are more than ever alive to the fact that the 

 forests of the world (particularly their own 

 forests) are fast being used up, and are giving 

 great attention to the question of lumber supply. 

 They are looking to the future requirements 

 of the state, and are giving every possible en- 

 couragement for the afforestration of lands that 

 have become depleted of timber. So keenly 

 alive are they, that forestry schools have been 

 established where both men and women are 

 being taught scientific and practical methods 

 of afforestration at the Forestry School at 

 Dunkeld, near where the Newfoundland For- 

 estry Companies (Newfoundland Expeditionary 

 Force) were operating. They are working in 

 the nurseries, and planting trees on the estate 

 of the Duke of Atholl, which was laid bare by 

 the axes of our woodsmen, so that their own 

 country may profit by the knowledge thus 

 gained. 



What is our own government going to do? 

 Will they make some declaration as to the policy 

 they intend to initiate and carry out, not merely 

 for the conservation of our present timber areas, 

 but for the afforestration of the vast stretches 

 of country that have been depleted of its great 

 timber wealth? 



i 



