Canadian Forcstrv Journal, Januarv, 1920 



35 



The ideal situatioa for which all foresters 

 are striving is that of a sustained yield; that is, 

 that a region shall be lumbered that no more 

 wood shall be removed in any one year than the 

 amount which actually grows per annum. By 

 such a system of management the forest be- 

 comes perpetually productive, and as long as it 

 is not destroyed by fire, it will be an unfailing 

 source of raw material. Under tliis system, 

 mature trees may be cut over areas where the 

 trees are of different a^res and sizes, leaving 

 th smaller trees to grow for a future crop, or a 

 portion of the territory may be cut over entirely 

 clean and a new crop obtained by natural seed- 

 ins or by planting young trees which have been 

 raised in a forest nursery. 



All of these systems have been thoroughly 

 tried out in Europe and are in use separately and 

 in combination wherever forestry is practiced. 

 Our Canadian forests have, in general, been 

 handled under the first or selection system, not 

 by any carefully thought-out plan, but by a 

 fortunate cliance. Unfortunately, the system 

 has been carried out, not as m Europe, by tak- 

 ing the oldest and poorest trees and leaving the 

 best and most vigorous for the future crop, but 

 by taking out the best and largest trees and by 

 leaving the feeble and decaying ones, or the 

 young and stunted ones, which either never re- 

 covsr or take a very long time. Studies have 

 shown that on the pulpwood lands of Quebec, 

 under the present system of cutting, it will, in 

 all probability, take sixty years to produce a 

 crop and that the amount which can be cut at 

 that time will be only one-quarter of the amount 

 which is being cut to-day, an amount too small 

 to make profitable logging possible. 



ACCESSIBILITY IS THE TEST. 



If a proper system of cutting should be 

 adopted, the present cut per acre would, un- 

 der the selective system, be reduced and log- 

 ging expenses increased, but each year would 

 see a larger possible cut, until the land had 

 reached a maximum yield three or four times 

 as large as that at present produced. If, on 

 the other hand,, we should begin to cut our 

 lands clean, we should more than double the 

 present yield, but we should have to wait for 

 forty or sixty years for another crop, depend- 

 ing on whether we left the restocking to na- 

 ture or replanted the forest ourselves. The 

 crop at the end of the period would then be 

 nearly eigh ttimes that at present obtained 

 per acre. Any system will, for the immediate 

 future, increase the price of pulpwood, but as 

 the forest increases in yield the cost will drop 



progressively until the full yield is reached 

 and will then remain practically stationary. 

 The problem has to be faced, and the longer 

 we wait before beginning a sane and practical 

 policy, the more it will cost. Everyone in the 

 country is vitally interested in this problem, 

 and the cost should not be saddled entirely on 

 the manufacturers of pulp and paper, but 

 should be borne in great part by the provin- 

 cial governments, which are the owners of 

 the land. The price of wood is rising rapidly 

 and will continue to rise until proper steps 

 are taken to insure a permanent supply, and 

 the cost will naturally fall on the consumer 

 of the product. Newspaper publishers should 

 be vitally interested in this question, as they 

 are probably the largest consumers, and they 

 should do their part by economizing in the 

 use of paper and by educating the public and 

 the voters, so that a sound policy can be 

 adopted and the proper legislation passed to 

 make it effective. All classes of the popula- 

 tion are interested. 



GOOD WORK BY COMPANIES. 



The pulp and paper companies have foreseen 

 the difficulties which confront them in the wan- 

 ing supply and the increased cost of logging 

 and transportation, and have given much study 

 to its solution. This great industry has organ- 

 ized and perfected a system of fire protection 

 and has obtained from the government the en- 

 actment of better laws for the protection of the 

 forests. It has proposed legislation for refor- 

 estation and is urging the government to pass it. 

 It has spent money for experimental work, so 

 that there would be a sound basis of facts on 

 which to lay down rules for forest manage- 

 ment and on which to base a wise forest policy. 

 Experimental plantations have been made to de- 

 termine the best species of plant and the pro- 

 per soils on which to plant them. 



The Laurentide Company, Limited, were the 

 pioneers in this work, and have a large forest 

 nursery, experimental plantations and cutting 

 operations and are planting nearly two million 

 trees the coming season and will rapidly in- 

 crease the number. 



The Riordon Pulp and Paper Company, Lim- 

 ited, are doing the same kind of work and 

 have been planting for several years: 730.000 

 trees in the spring of 1919. 



The Abitibi Power and Paper Company, Lim- 

 ited, and Price Bros, and Company, Limited, 

 and the Spanish River Company, Limited, have 

 ihc matter under consideration. 



