268 



C'(iiiti(liiiii rorcstrx Journal. June. 1020. 



farmers j^cl the wimkI i1ic\- ncL-(l. 

 where will they work in tlu- winter 

 months, how will our mineral resour- 

 ces be devebiped witliout wood? We 

 must protect our forests from lire and 

 we must mana.ije them for a continu- 

 ous yield. \ew industries are gdorl 

 hut they must not he develo])ed be- 

 yond a point where the supply of raw 

 material ceases to be sufficient. The 

 first essential is an accurate estimate 

 of the total sui)ply of wood and the 

 total amount g'rowing each year. 

 When this is ascertained the consuni])- 

 tion must be fitted to the annual pro- 

 duc^tion. It is only a <|uestion of time 

 imtil this will be al)Solutely necess- 

 iiry and the Province which first has 

 the courage to take the bull by the 

 horns and handle its forest resources 

 rationally will do most to stabilize 

 its wood using- industries and to per- 

 petuate its prosperity. If this is not 

 done, the time will inevitably come 

 in eastern Canada when the for- 

 ests will begin to dwindle and 

 the industries to decline and we 

 to take their place. We have only to 

 look at sections of the United States 

 which were once thriving communi- 

 ties and are now abandoned, for proof 

 of this. We have only to see the situa- 

 tion of the news ])rint industry in the 

 United States and to hear its cry that 

 its raw material is nearly exhausted 

 and that they must have Canadian 

 wood in order to exist to know the 

 truth of my statement. The Canadian 

 pulp and ]mper industry realizes this 

 and has come to realize it through 

 a careful stock-taking of its timber- 

 lands. See how many of the .large 

 companies are beginning to reforest 

 artificiallv ! 



CHANGED WOODS METHODS 



But, and here is a very im])ortant 

 cpiery, why do they not change their 

 methods of logging, why do they not 

 utilize more of the wood that is wast- 

 ed? In not a country in the world is 

 natural regeneration so easy and so 

 certain as in Eastern Canada and it is 

 absolutely necessary that natural and" 

 artificial reforestation should go hand 

 in hand. The reason that no atten- 

 tion is being paid to natural regenera- 



tion or to better methods of logging, 

 is that operators wish to keep down' 

 their logging costs, and the manager 

 of woodlands o])erations is judged On 

 no other basis than the price at which 

 he delivers his logs. He makes his 

 logs and delivers them as chea])lv as 

 possible and no one can blame him. 

 'riie history of logging has been that 

 it has followed the line of least resist- 

 ance. Only the best timber was mark- 

 etable, only chea]) wood could go into 

 ])a])er in the early days or concerns 

 would, lia\-e l)een bankru])ted. The 

 most accessible timber was ■ logged 

 first, river banks and lake shores were 

 cut clean, then the easily drivable 

 streams. Logging was contracted be- 

 cause it could be done cheaper bv a 

 small contractor and required no cap- 

 ital outlay for logging gear and so 

 forth. The waste by these jobbers 

 has been enormous. They have taken 

 the best of the timber and left that 

 which was difficult to get out and 

 now this timber is scattered and dif- 

 ficult of access and the price of getting 

 it out would be almost ruinous. Everv- 

 one is looking for new bodies of tim- 

 ber to log cheaply. 



PRICES AND FOREST METHODS 



Xow while prices are good, when 

 there is a market for all kinds of wood, 

 is the time to make a radical change 

 in the management of our forests and 

 in the methods of exploiting them. 

 We must begin to manage for a sus- 

 tained yield and most of the large 

 paper companies are carrying on ex- 

 periments looking t(i this end. Dif- 

 ferent methods of cutting have been 

 tried and the results are being' stud- 

 ied. Such methods have been care- 

 fully worked out in Europe and 

 have the sanction of experience. 

 Here it will take years to develop the 

 best methods but we know enough to 

 begin and a beginning should be made 

 at once. 



NO BLANKET SYSTEM 



Let it be stated most emphatically 

 that there is no one method for handl- 

 ing Canadian forests. That is the 

 great mistake wdiicli our Provincial 



