1922-23 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 179 



varied from eleven to thirty-three feet, thirty-three feet being used in 

 pine stands. Lines were run at one-half mile intervals unless it was 

 quite apparent that a particular stretch of country had no timber of 

 commercial value, when only a sample plot of the type would be taken. 

 Three timber types were recognized : 



Coniferous — less than 20 per cent, hardwood. 



Mixed — 20 per cent, to 80 per cent, hardwood. 



Hardwoods — less than 20 per cent, conifers. 

 Each of the above was further classified to show second and young 

 growth stands. 



(b) Aerial Type Mapping. — Two foresters were engaged on this work with 

 a main base at Biscotasing and two sub-bases at Como and Kirkpatrick 

 lakes. Roughly, one-half of the area was mapped in one hundred and 

 fifty flying hours. Aerial type work was as far as possible confined to 

 country where the timber was of non-commercial value or which was 

 unusually difficult of access to the ground party. 



4. Results: Drainage. — The whole reserve falls into four main drainage 

 basins, a small area in the north being in the James Bay drainage. Down the 

 west side the Montreal, Batchewana and Goulais rivers all flow to Lake Superior. 

 The third and largest area is drained by the Mississagi and tributaries, while the 

 fourth comprises a small area in the southeast draining into the Spanish. 



Topography. — The area is well-drained, there being less than two per cent, 

 classed as muskeg. Across the north and east half there is little re'i^f, the country 

 being made up of a succession of low rolling hills. From the Wenebegon river 

 westward, however, more rocky outcrops are noted and the whole could be 

 termed hilly. The rivers in this western section all have steep sides and rnany 

 falls and rapids. 



Forest Conditions, General. — In distribution of species, the reserve marks 

 the northern limit of hard maple and yellow birch and also of commercial white 

 and red pine. For while pine occurs north of the reserve, the quantity, 125 

 million board feet on 4,000 square miles covered by the Missinabie survey, or 

 fifty feet per acre, is insignificant. An approximate figure for the Mississagi 

 Reserve would be 500 feet board measure per acre. This pine appears to be 

 typical, for when the volume table prepared from measurements made on the 

 reserve was compared with existing tables very little difference was noted. In 

 general, the whole area may be termed a transition between the southern type 

 of forest and the more northerly spruce-balsam forest. 



Types, General. — The mixed type is largely composed of jack pine, spruce, 

 balsam, and in two-thirds of the area, white and red pine in varying quantities. 

 The hardwoods in the mixture are chiefly white birch, poplar, and in the south- 

 west a scattering of hard maple and yellow birch. 



The coniferous type is represented by stands of pure spruce, jack pine and 

 spruce mixture, and white and red pine mixture. White and red pine also occur 

 in pure stands. The coniferous types are generally confined to more poorly 

 drained areas, low gravelly plains and rocky uplands. 



The hardwood type is confined to the south-westerly part of the reserve. 

 These hardwoods, maple and yellow birch, occur generally on uplands having a 

 north or west exposure. The maple and yellow birch are living at the northern 

 limit of their distribution and are generally stunted, crooked and limby, with a 

 great prevalence to heart rot. 



5. Co5/.— Flying, $17,700; ground work, $23,000. 



