234 



Canadian Porcsfry Journal, May, i()20. 



Forest fires have robbed Canada of at least seven times as much timber as has been cut. Dr. 

 Howe estimates this useless sacrifice of national wealth at 1,091 billion feet (board measure) of 

 useful timber. 



a consequence of a temporary fuel 

 famine. 



In Canada, while certain protective 

 measures against forest fires had an 

 early origin, the idea of technical for- 

 est management to secure continuous 

 forest crops was not seriously mooted 

 until after 1900. Germany, therefore, 

 has had far more than 100 years start 

 in the application of scientific method 

 in timber production. 



The state forests of Prussia are 7,- 

 518,189 acres in extent. In 1913, the 

 timber cut on this area was no less 

 than 2,709 million board feet. In the 

 whole of Canada the average annual 

 lumber cut is about 3,250 million 

 board feet. 



Bavaria, in 191 1, made a net profit 

 of $4.12 per acre from her state-owned 

 forests. 



If Canada could cultivate such a 

 revenue from even one-tenth of her 

 Crown forests, public debt would be 

 a thing to laugh at. There would be 

 $100,000,000 alone from the relatively 

 small forest reserves of the three prai- 

 rie provinces, in place of a net deficit 

 of several hundred thousand dollars. 



Spending So As To Earn. 



Of the 2,150,000 acres of forests in 

 Bavaria, yy per cent are coniferous, 

 and the average value in 1912 was $50 

 an acre, or $32,000 a square mile. 



Bavaria spent on forest manage- 

 ment, $4,965,000 a year, more than 

 double what is spent by all the Gov- 

 ernments of Canada on forestry de- 

 partments, fire protection, etc. 



Bavaria's total net revenue from 

 her forests in the same year amount- 

 ed to $1,187,000. 



Each German state has three classes 

 of forests. First, those owned by the 

 state themselves ; second, those own- 

 ed by the cities or small communi- 

 ties ; third, those owned by private 

 individuals. Most of the communal 

 and private forests are regulated by 

 the state, to some degree at least. 

 One of the most important restric- 

 tions is that no private owner or com- 

 munity can cut more than is pro- 

 duced, and that all deforested land 

 must be reforested. 



The German forest policy aims to 

 reforest all waste lands and to gradu- 

 ally increase the forest area under 



