4 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



not know whether to be alarmed or not. Is that an enviable 

 situation for an intelligent and progressive people? 



THE PROBLEM ANALYZED 



Survey of There are at least three definite lines of enquiry to 



Puipwood be pursued in connection with the problem of our 



pulpwood supply. In the first place, there should 

 be a definite stock-taking of the commercial material now available. 

 We must know what we have before we can make any sensible 

 plans for the future. Not every acre, nor even extensive areas, 

 should be actually cruised, for the results would not justify the 

 expense; but sufficient cruising should be done and enough data 

 gathered to permit of reliable estimates being made. Such work 

 has already been done by the Commission of Conservation in British 

 Columbia, and it is under contemplation for Ontario. 



Estimates of the available commercial pulpwood supplies in the 

 province of Quebec have been made, but, as yet, there has been 

 only a partial methodical stock-taking, despite the fact that Quebec 

 is the most important pulpwood area in Canada, supplying over 

 one-half of the pulpwood produced in the Dominion. Nearly half 

 of the pulp mills in Canada are situated in Quebec. With her long 

 southward-flowing rivers, extending into the very heart of the 

 pulpwood regions, with her water and rail connections, Quebec is 

 much nearer the ultimate market for most pulpwood products than 

 any other province with an equal supply of material. Indeed, this 

 very accessibility increases the danger of early exhaustion of her 

 supply. Logically and economically, Quebec should be the first to 

 institute a thorough-going investigation of her present supply of 

 pulpwood. 



Once we have taken the initial step of ascertaining 

 Growth h w mucn pulpwood we have in Eastern Canada, 



its distribution and its accessibility, we can, with a 

 known rate of consumption, make a reasonable prediction as to the 

 duration of the supply. Since, however, we are dealing with living 

 wood substance, which has the wonderful power of regenerating 

 itself each year, we must take another factor into consideration, 

 namely, the rate of growth or, in other words, the annual accumula- 

 tion of new wood fibre in our spruce and balsam forests. This 

 brings us to our second line of enquiry, viz., a detailed study of 

 growth and production, involving the making of stem analyses on 

 carefully selected areas. To be sure, this is little less than drudgery; 

 it is tedious, heart-breaking work, especially if done in 'fly* time; 

 but it is only this kind of investigation that can furnish data by 



