70 



Illustrntcd Canadian I'urcstry Magazine. December. i(j20 



is to see that the rangers eiii])l<)ye(l l)y the 

 unaffiliated Hniit-holders. do llieir <hity. 



The Abitihi service was organized two 

 years ago and has ^iven satisfactory re- 

 sults. 



/// Lake St. JoJin liegion. 



The Lake St. John organization was 

 inaugurated (M1 a small scale only this 

 year, but the results have been so .satis- 

 factory, that it will be nuich increased 

 next season, if the necessary grant is ob- 

 tainable, as there is a vast territory of 

 timber lands beyond the Xorthern settle- 

 ments, which should be .protected from 

 the fire menace, for unfortunately our 

 forests arc by no means inexhaustible 

 though many seem to think they are; 

 This system will probably later on be 

 joined by an organization for the protec- 

 tion of the unsold limits of the North 

 Shore, on the one hand and with the Abit- 

 tibi org'anization on the other hand. As 

 however these organizations are canoe 

 ones, it will be an ex])ensive system under 

 existing conditions, but it is hoped that 

 the development of the hydroplane ser- 

 vice with which the Department is experi 

 menting- in the Lake St. John District, 

 will prove sufficiently efficient to warrant 

 their employment on a much more ex- 

 tended scale, in the near future and at a 

 cost which will bring this patrol within 

 reasonable limits. 



The Railway Board, in conjunction 

 with the Forest Protective Associations 

 and the Provincial Government, have 3 

 speeder patrols along the railways, where 

 they run through Government Lands. 

 Where the lands are under license, the 

 Railway, the Association and the Pro- 

 vincial Government each pay one third 

 •of the cost. Where the lands are not 

 imder license the Government pays two 

 thirds and the Railways pays one-third of 

 the cost. 



The Public LTilities Commission, on 

 the railroads coming under their jurisdic- 

 tion, work along- similar lines to the Rail- 

 way Board. 



Trying Out Aerial Patrol. 

 The Provincial Government, in con- 

 nection with the Air Board of Ottawa, 

 have been experimenting" this season in 

 the use of hydroplanes in the Lake St. 

 John District, with the object of deter- 



mining to what extent this method can be 

 used for reporting- on our forest through 

 jihotography and sketching, as also for 

 reporting forest fires and carrying men 

 and equipment to the .scene of the fire. 

 Lnough, however, .has not yet been ac 

 complished to warrant ])assing a final 

 judgment on this method of I'orest pro- 

 tection. 



]V)th the Government and the Forest 

 i'rotective Associations, use the Fair- 

 banks-Morse portable Forest Pumps 

 under certain circumstances have founrl 

 them of great service, but there are places 

 where they cannot be brought into action 

 and one must rely on the old means of 

 fighting- fire with sIkjvcIs, grub hoes, 

 picks, buckets, etc. 



The Provincial (iovennnent, during 

 the present season, purchased a number 

 of small garden pumps, which can be 

 easily carried in a pack with the object 

 of "trying them out" in low running 

 ground, or brush fires, but before they 

 were received, the drought in the Abittibi 

 and Lake St. John Districts was over, so 

 that it will be necessary to wait for an- 

 other season, to pass judgment on the 

 practical utility of these little appliances. 



The telephone is of great use in con- 

 nection with forest protection and some 

 hundreds of miles of line, have already 

 been constructed by the different Protec- 

 tive Associations and by large limit hold- 

 ers who are not affiliated and this luile- 

 age is being continually added to. These 

 telephone lines are in most cases connect- 

 ed with the regular telephone system of 

 the locality and by their means, much 

 valuable time is saved in summoning as- 

 sistance, when a fire occurs in the in- 

 terior of the limits. 



A Policy of V issuance. 



Some fire lookout stations have already 

 been built and the Department contem- 

 plates seeing the whole of the timbered 

 area of the Province, under observation 

 of such stations, linked up by telephone. 



A start has been made in plotting the 

 burnt areas, but this will be a work of 

 tirne. When completed, however, such 

 maps will be of great use to the lumber- 

 men, as well as to the Department, as 

 will be seen, when it is stated that 25 per 

 cent, of this vear's cut, will be of burnt 



