506 



Canadian Fort-slry journal, December, 1919 



W:. 



Northern Ontario's Forest Wealth. A log jam along the T. &. X.< i. liaihvay. 



THE LINE-UP OF LAND IN SASKATCHEWAN 



The following has been worked out for the 

 Canadian Forestry Journal as a reasonable div- 

 ision of the land area of the province of Sas- 

 katchewan, which totals one million acres: 



One-third prairie, south of the main line, 



C.N.R. 



One-third wooded, between main line of 

 C.N.R. and Churchill river. 



One-third barren, north of Churchill river. 



This, of course, does not mdicate absolute 

 lines for there are considerable agricultural 

 areas inside the wooded zone as well as a cer- 

 tain amount of natural forest land in what has 

 been designated as prairie. However, the tab- 

 ulation will stand as substantially correct, there- 

 by indicating that only thirty or forty per cent 

 at most of the entire province of Saskatchewan 

 is adapted to agriculture. 



Of the fifty million acres inside the central 

 section south of the Churchill river, it would 



probably be a most conservative estimate that 

 25 to 35 million acres are absolute forest land, 

 quite unfit for farms. The present area of the 

 forest reserves in Saskatchewan is six million 

 acres which falls short of including even one- 

 quarter of the provincial area that must be 

 handled for timber production or be regarded 

 as permanent barrens. 



As illustrating the enormous reduction in the 

 standing timber of Northern Satkatchewan it 

 may be pointed out that only 750,000 acres out 

 of 25 to 35 million acres of natural forest land 

 are to-day bearing commercial timber. The 

 economic effect of this reduction in raw mater- 

 ials has already been seen in the closing of the 

 largest sawmills of Saskatchewan and the pros- 

 pect of still further reduction of sawmill activ- 

 ities. It is estimated that when logging and 

 sawing in Northern Saskatchewan was at its 

 height about $2,000,000 a year was circulated 

 in pay envelopes and supplies through such 

 points as Prince Albert. 



