116 , ' \\ADIAK FORESTRY A8SOCIATIOX 



rangers in suppressing it. The Railway Commission agreed to bear half the wages 

 and expenses of the rangers, cSst of suppressing fire, &c. Sonie fires occurred along the 

 line of construction, but owing to the close supervision which existed assistance was 

 called out and they were extinguished without doing any serious damage. As a result 

 of the active assistance rendered by the Railway Commission and the careful super- 

 vision of the fire-rangers on duty no damage Worth mentioning occurred although the 

 railway was being actively constructed during the whole of the summer. 



QUEBEC. 



In Fire District No. 1, including the tract lying west of the Gatineau river, there 

 was no rain up to June 20 in the eastern part, and little elsewhere although in the far 

 northern part of the district there were occasional showers before that date. In spite 

 of these serious conditions there was only one fire that was at all extensive. This 

 occurred between Black river and the Coulonge, and is believed to have started 

 through the negligence of a gang of drivers who did not properly extinguish their 

 camp fire. As there were eighteen fire accounts it means that there were that number 

 of fires of sufficient importance to cause some expenditure to fight them beyond the 

 regular salaries of rangers. This additional cost was $2,989.60, and to any one who 

 knows the value of the Upper Ottawa timber limits it is infinitesimal compared with 

 the value of the interests which have evidently been well protected through one of 

 the most trying seasons that the forests have experienced. 



in Fire District No. 2, east of the Gatineau river, there were numerous fires, for 

 the timber limits here come in contact with settlement, and considerable damage 

 was done, but as most of the reports are naturally indefinite it is impossible to state 

 fully what the loss was. From the Gatineau river on the west to the St. Maurice and 

 Batiscan on the east, fires of greater or less extent occurred almost everywhere through 

 the dry season of May and June, Near .the Gatineau in May a fire traversed 100 square 

 miles, destroying seventy to eighty thousand pine sawlogs of an average diameter of 

 nine inches, besides a thick growth of young white pine. On the Lievre river thirty 

 to thirty-five square miles were burnt over, on the Rouge river fifty square miles with 

 500,000 logs, on Lac Ouareau and Assomption rivers the losses were large but not 

 estimated, on the Maskinonge and Upper Mattawin probably twelve square miles, with 

 66,000 logs of spruce and balsam valued at fifty cents each. On the St. Maurice many 

 miles of green bush were burnt, and also on the Batiscan where two camps and a 

 village with its sawmill were destroyed. "On the Batiscan and Lake Edward one report 

 gives forty to fifty square miles burnt over. 



The superintendent for this fire district states that all bush fires, so far, are traced 

 up to the settlers clearing land, and as the losses in his district were 'all from fires in 

 May and the early part of June, urges that the period for which fires to clear land 

 may not be set out be extended so as to date from May 1 to September 15. There 

 were twenty-three fire-rangers employed in this district. 



The cost of the service for the protection of the forests against fire was in the 

 fiscal year 1902-1903, $17,000. 



MANITOBA. 



In Manitoba the same conditions prevailed as in Eastern Canada, namely, a dry 

 spring, but the drought was broken earlier, the reports showing that rain fell about 

 the middle of May. On the west side of Lake Winnipeg a fire started on May 12, in 

 the north-east corner of township 6, range 3, east of the 1st Meridian, and went in a 

 northerly direction. Six settlers lost their buildings and property. Most of the 

 timber in the district is small. Rain fell on May 17. There were other smaller fires 

 in this vicinity with little loss. 



