Ca)iadia)i Forestry Journal, March, ig20 



131 



efficient business adir-inistration be made 

 •effective, and that there be much greater 

 ■development of permanent improvements 

 such as roads, trails, lookout stations and 

 the use of mechanical equipment in trans- 

 portation and fire fighting. Only in this 

 way may the several forest organizations 

 "be brought to the required degree of ef- 

 ficiency. The partial progress already 

 made in these directions goes only to 

 prove the truth of this statement. 



The elimination of unnecessary waste of 

 merchantable material in loggin^ opera- 

 tions would aro far toward lengthening out 

 the period of years during which our vir- 

 gin forests will supply the demand, and 

 thus allow more time for the growth to 

 merchantable size of the large areas of 

 natural reproduction. That there has been 

 serious loss on this account in years past 

 is well established. 



Using Hardwoods and Balsam Fir. 



In the mixed hardwood-softwood for- 

 •ests of eastern Canada, not accessible to 

 rail transportation, it is of the greatest 

 importance that some method be develop- 

 ed by which the hardwoods, particularly 

 yellow birch and paper birch, may be 

 transported and utilized. The problem of 

 transportation has not yet been satisfac- 

 torily solved. So far as utilization is con- 

 cerned, indications are that a material "per- 

 centage of birch ground wood ran be used 

 in mixture with spruce and balsam ground- 

 wood in the manufacture of newsprint. It 

 is to be hoped that the pulp and paper 

 companies may be able to find some satis- 

 factory way to utilize the great amount of 

 liirch which is so greatly retarding the 

 growth of the spruce and balsam repro- 

 duction on cut-over lands. There are, of 

 course, other possibilities of utilization, to 

 which every possible attention should be 

 given. 



There is a considerable prciudico agains*^ 

 the use of balsam in the manufacture of 

 newsprint, caused largely by insuff'cient 

 Icnowledge of the species. Som-e companies 

 claim that lialsam cannot be driven for anj' 

 great distance because of the los'; from 

 sinking when the logs are in the water for 

 any length of time, while other companies 

 are actually driving balsam for quite a 

 considerable distance. One company, at 

 least, has been allowing only ten per cent, 

 balsam in its annual cut of logs, regardless 

 •of the fact that the species forms up- 

 wards of fifty per cent, of its total stand. 

 The greatest trouldo in the use of lialsim 

 seems to be the presence of pitch pocket- 

 caused by the efforts of the tree to heal 

 wounds while growincr. When the wool 

 is reduced to pulp the pitch gets into tli? 

 pulp and may cause trouble on the screens 

 and paper nuichine. In spite of this, how- 

 ever, l)alsam can be used, as demonstrated 

 by m-any companies, some of whom are 



using it indiscriminately in mixture with 

 spruce, with quite satisfactory results. With 

 the available supply of spruce decreasing 

 so rapidly as to cause more or less alarm, 

 and with balsam forming such a large per- 

 centage of the forests of Eastern Canada, 

 particularly so in the young growth, the 

 various governments and companies should 

 and must see to it that this species is fully 

 utilized if Canada is to maintain its posi- 

 tion as one of the leading pulp producing 

 countries of the world. 



All these things are, however, not for- 

 estry, but are essential preliminaries to 

 the practice of forestry The forest can be 

 reproduced naturally by intelligent regula- 

 tion of the methods of cutti'^'^ as well as 

 by planting. For the great bulk of our 

 forest area, natural regeneration must be 

 our primary dependence for very many 

 years to com-e. We are as yet only upon 

 the threshold of developments along the 

 line of scientific forestry practice as an in- 

 tegral part of regular woods operations. 

 It is, however, a most encouraging sign 

 that so much attention is beina: 'ven the 

 problem of how we may reproduce our 

 forests by wise use. 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 



The reorganization of the provincial 

 Forest Service has proved a splendid suc- 

 cess, with results alike favorable to the in- 

 terests of the province as a whole and to 

 the permanent welfare of the wood-usimr 

 industries The judgment of the provincial 

 government has been completely vindicated 

 in utilizing fully the technically trained 

 staff of the Forest Service in the adminis- 

 tration of Crown timber lands, thus fol- 

 lowing the example previously set by the 

 provinces of Quebec and British Columbia 

 and by the Dominion Government so far 

 as the unlicensed portions of the Dominion 

 forest reserves are concerned. 



Efficiency and econom-v have at tlie 

 same time been furthered by making the 

 one organization responsible for the vari- 

 ous lines of forest work, including fire 

 ]irotection, enforcement of cutting regula- 

 tions, timber scaling, and enforcement of 

 the fish and eamc laws. This combination 

 has rendered possible the development of 

 a year-long staff of experienced men. with 

 obvious advantage to the province, as con- 

 trasted with the former conditions of sea- 

 sonal employment. 



The Forestry .Xdvisory Roird. consi-^t- 

 iiig of tluee representatives of the Provin- 

 cial Covernnient and two representatives of 

 the timlier owners. lias functioned splen- 

 didlv in directing the Forest Service, es- 

 pecially in eliminating the patronage evil 

 in nvitters of personnel, thus furthering 

 the emphnnient and retention of tlie best 

 men available. 



The development of the Forest Service 

 has been greatly facilitated by the return 



