CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 89 



Mr. CAMPBELL. I do not think that any person has a better grasp of the subject 

 of irrigation in relation to forestry or of irrigation generally in our west, than Mr. 

 Dennis. He has been connected with that work since its very inception in Canada. 

 In fact he may be considered as one of the originators of the irrigation scheme. When 

 the irrigation survey of Southern Alberta and Western Assiniboia was inaugurated 

 Mr. Dennis had charge of that work and now he has been taken into the service of the 

 Canadian Pacific Kailway to superintend, the large irrigation works which they are 

 ji-oing to undertake, stretching from Calgary almost to Medicine Hat, a very extensive 

 operation. There is one point in his paper that demands a little bit of explanation, 

 and those of you who were watching closely Mr. White's paper this morning will 

 understand the point. You will remember, perhaps, that Mr. White in speaking of 

 the evolution of timber regulations, said that timber limits under the Dominion regu- 

 lations were granted without any previous inspection or valuation of any kind. Mr. 

 Dennis makes the statement that the reservation which existed on the watershed he 

 describes, has to a large extent been removed. I might explain that a reserve was 

 established along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, covering an uncertain belt 

 from the foothills to the summit of the mountains, from the international boundary 

 to the Bow river. - Part of this is now covered by the Rocky Mountains park, which 

 when it w:>.- hr>t established, was a small park twenty-six miles long by ten wide, but 

 has been recently extended, to take in an area of something like 2,800,000 acres 

 But the southern part still remains as what we call the Foothills Reserve. Up to just 

 recently no timber licenses were granted in that district, nor were settlers allowed in. 

 The regulations still remain the same in so far that settlors are not allowed in the 

 reserve, but the point referred to by Mr. Dennis is that the prohibition of the grant- 

 ing of timber licenses has been withdrawn, and any piece of property there might be 

 put up upon the application of any person and the timber on it sold. But you will see 

 that in that reserve the great matter to be considered is not the production of timber, 

 but its use as a watershed, and it is quite possible, under the regulations as they stand 

 at present, that the timber might be put up and sold at auction and the right to re- 

 move that timber given without special consideration or investigation of the effect of 

 such action on the water supply. Mr. Dennis is suggesting that this association might 

 record itself in favour of the proper supervision and the proper care of the timber on 

 these watersheds. 



Professor REYNOLDS. Mr. President, I suppose this question is open for discus- 

 sion. I have given some attention lately to the question of climatic influence and the 

 forest, and this question if one of the largest and most difficult to deal with in con- 

 nection with forestry the extent of climatic influences exercised by the forest. But 

 the paper that we have just heard comes under that head and it appears to me that, 

 while irrigation is not an absorbing problem in Ontario, and I dare say never will be, 

 because our rainfall is generally sufficient for agricultural purposes, yet the influence 

 of the forest is far wider than its mere application to irrigation. I may just mention 

 briefly the reasons why the forests conserve this rainfall from the watersheds. As 

 a matter of fact, the amount of rainfall which reaches the forest floor is less than that 

 which reaches the bare ground in the open. About eighty-three per cent only of the 

 rainfall reaches the ground in the forest, so that less water really penetrates the 

 ground covered by the forest than in the open, and yet the forest is a tremendous 



