10 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



percentage of loss is still greater in the case of the balsam. In the 

 beginning, there are 6 times as many balsam as spruce, but when 

 the balsam gets into its commercial class of 7 inches diameter, there 

 are only about twice as many. 



You may say that the conditions have changed since the '8-in. 

 to 12-in.' trees came through the forest cover and a larger percentage 

 of the smaller-diameter classes will survive. You may be right. 

 Conditions certainly have changed, but my impression is that, 

 from the standpoint of the spruce at least, and perhaps also for the 

 balsam, they have changed for the worse. Each logging operation 

 has stimulated the growth of the hardwoods more than that of the 

 softwoods. The crowns of the large trees soon fill in the gaps and 

 a dense thicket of hardwood shrubbery is developed on the forest 

 floor, thus producing more shade and suppressing the spruce and 

 balsam still more. 



Turning now to the '4-in. to 8-in. diameter' class, we 



fi nc * 30 spruce and 59 balsam on the average acre. 



Twenty of the spruce and 40 of the balsam are 

 dominant and they stand a good chance of persisting. If they 

 should all enter the commercial class, they would furnish a sufficient 

 future supply in time. 'In time' that is the second phase of our 

 investigation. When can we expect another crop? Our growth 

 studies showed that the spruce trees in the '4-in. to 8-in. diameter' 

 class were from 80 to 100 years old, and those of the '8-in. to 12-in.' 

 class were from 100 to 150 years old. Therefore, it would take at 

 least 50 years for the upper range (8 inches) and 70 years for the 

 lower range of the class (4 inches) to reach the 12-in. minimum 

 diameter limit for spruce in Quebec. I think you will agree with me 

 that 50 years is too long for any private concern to wait for another 

 crop of spruce on these cut-over pulpwood areas. 



The present increased demand for woodpulp has led 

 Balsam* ^ to a ra P^ increase in the proportion of balsam used. 



So, if our 40 dominant balsam between 4-in. and 

 8-in. on the average acre reach commercial size, they would represent 

 a valuable asset. In fact, some in this class are already commercial, 

 for the minimum diameter limit for balsam in Quebec is 7 inches, 

 but, unfortunately, the number of this diameter cannot be segre- 

 gated from the '4-in. to 8-in.' class. However, according to our 

 growth tables, it takes only about 10 years on the average for a 

 balsam to pass from a 4-in. tree to a 7-in. tree; so, within that time 

 there will be another crop of balsam on these areas. 



Several factors, however, greatly reduce the value of balsam. 

 As is well known, it is much subject to disease and windfall. Mr. 



