58 



Canadian Forestry journal, February, 1920 



HAVE YOU A WOODLOT GOING TO WASTE? 



By B. R. Morton. B.Sc. 



About that undeveloped woodlot or woodland on your place? Mr. B. R. Morion, B.Sc.F., 

 of the Dominion Forestry Branch, null tal(e up Tvilh you in this and future issues of the Forestry 

 Journal the question of making a maximum profit from it. The folloiving is introductory : 



It is frequently said that the farm woodlot in 

 Eastern Canada needs no attention because trees 

 will grow without care. True, trees will grow 

 with Httle or no care. So will an orchard or a 

 field of potatoes grow without care. But if we 

 are looking for the best returns from our orch- 

 ard or potatoes, we must give them attention. 

 Just so with the woodlot, we must look after it if 

 we desire the best results. A woodlot well estab- 

 lished and in good condition requires very little 

 attention, but this little attention pays well. 



Perhaps the greatest objection made to caring 

 for the woodlot is the time it takes to produce 

 large sized timber. On the farm, however, 

 there are many uses for the small and medium 

 sized forest products that take a comparatively 

 short time to produce. On many woodlots a 

 thrifty young growth already exists, and it will 

 not require many years before this is sufficiently 

 large to use. A little attention will shorten con- 

 siderably the time required to produce market- 

 able material. 



The demand for small dimension materials is 

 steadily increasing because the scarcity of wood 

 in large dimension is forcing the manufacturers 

 to use built-up wood. The war has done much 

 to increase our knowledge regarding the pos- 

 sibilities in the use of "laminated" products, of 

 which the airplane is an example. This use of 

 wood in small sizes makes it possible to market 

 the products of the woodlot, while the trees are 

 comparatively young. 



There are many reasons why it is good busi- 

 ness to maintain a woodlot on the farm. With- 

 out it, it becomes necessary to purchase the 

 fuel, posts and other wood material required 

 about the place. Few farms are «o small that 

 it would not pay to maintain a small part under 

 trees. The woodlot gives the farm as a whole 

 a higher value. Even when it has been started 

 artificially by planting and the trees have not yet 

 reached merchantable size, they have value. 

 Planting a woodlot is a sure and safe way of 



buildmg up a bank account for one's old age 

 or one's children. 



On many farms tV'frp ^rp r.r.^ r^r more waste 

 areas, patches that are not suited to agricultural 

 crops. The soil on them is sandy or perhaps the 

 surface is too rough, stoney or steep to allow 

 it being cultivated. Why allow these waste 

 areas to remam idle generation after genera- 

 tion when with a little initial cost they can be 

 made to grow trees that will be increasing in 

 value as you sleep. Each piece of ground 

 should be used for the purpose for which it is 

 best suited — a poor piece of soil should not be 

 abandoned merely because it will not yield so 

 large returns as the remainder. There is no 

 part of the farm so poor that it will not produce 

 tree-srowth. 



THE 



FOREST IS THE PROP OF THESE 

 INVESTMENTS. 



A preliminary report on the pulp and paper 

 industry in Canada has been compiled by the 

 Dominion Bureau of Statistics for the calendar 

 year 1918. The statistics are presented for 

 each class by number of mills as follows: Pulp 

 mills 37, paper mills 31, pulp and paper mills 

 26, or a total of 94 mills. 



The total capital invested in the industry was 

 $241,344,704, of which $12,520,765 was in- 

 vested in paper mills, $71,708,223 in pulp mills, 

 and $157,115,716 in pulp and paper mills. 

 Classified by items of capital, land, buildings and 

 fixtures, amounted to $117,805,581, machinery 

 and tools to $60,627,266, materials on hand, 



stocks in process, etc., $39,6 52,078, and cash, 



trading and operating accounts and bills re- 

 ceivable to $22,259,779. By provinces, the 

 amount invested was: British Columbia, $42,- 

 705,988; Ontario, $88,576,807; Quebec, $101,- 

 456,296; New Brunswick, $7,852,225, and 

 Nova Scotia, $753,388. 



