i^ .^ ,L L,, REPORT OF THE _^ No. 3 



Should the agreements to be entered into by the Crown with these com- 

 panies be executed before the Report goes to print, they may appear herein. 



In all these agreements the companies are required to manufacture every 

 9tick of pulpwood into the finished article, paper, and not merely pulp. In 

 other words, the development of home industry to the limit is the new slogan. 



The newsprint production in Ontario at present is approximately 2,600 tons 

 a day.. Under the new agreements, to be made by the Government, the daily 

 output will be increased to 4,500 tons, this enlarged production materially bene- 

 fitting the Hydro-Electric Power situation at the head of the Lakes, where 

 additional development is being proceeded with to meet the growing require- 

 ments. At Kapuskasing the Spruce Falls Company are preparing to energetic- 

 ally proceed with their new undertakings, which involve a large expenditure in 

 the harnessing of Smoky Falls power and the building of sixty miles of railway 

 and transmission line from the Falls to Kapuskasing. 



With this substantial increase in the paper development, adding to the 

 daily output alone over 2,200 tons of mechanical and sulphite pulp and 2,000 

 ^piis of newsprint, will come an increase in commerce, addition to the railway 

 tonnage, a general stimulation of business, the adoption of sane and modern 

 methods of timber conservation, and a resultant maintenance of a consistent 

 trade balance with our leading newsprint customers to the south. 



Forest Cruising and Estimating 



Continuing the practice now followed for some years, all areas were duly 

 cruised and estimated before sales of timber were advertised. In pursuance of 

 a policy adopted in 1923 in all important timber limits offered, subject to annual 

 licenses, the estimate of the kinds and quantities of timber are specified and an 

 upset price fixed, thus providing the prospective bidder a basis of calculation 

 without undertaking intensive surveys. These cruises and estimates were made 

 through the District Crown Timber Agents. Mapping of important forest types 

 was carried on through the Forestry officials working in conjunction with the 

 Provincial Aircraft Service and investigative survey work, and in this way over 

 5,000 square miles was covered at a very low acreage cost. For particulars see 

 Appendix No. 28. 



Forest Fire Protection 



Several exceptionally dry periods occurred during the season that tested 

 the fire-fighting units to the limit, but although called upon to perform herculean 

 tasks under almost impossible conditions, the staff succeeded in confining the 

 fire scourge to limited areas. 



The Air Patrol Service, working in unison with the land force, proved its 

 value throughout the trying time by not only detecting incipient fires but 

 actually on different occasions suppressing them. The air craft owned and 

 operated by the Province has already had a most salutary effect upon the morale 

 of the whole country covered by its operations. The actual loss of commercial 

 timber due to fires the past summer was comparatively small, as the areas burnt 

 w^ere largely cut-over sections, slashed lands, and barren sections, but these 

 fires had to be fought to protect adjacent valuable yields of virgin timber and 

 second growth. Of the total acreage overrun by fire, but 4.7 per cent, was 

 timber land, as against 21 per cent, for the preceding year and 28 per cent, for 

 the year 1923. Confining the burn to such a restricted area means a tremendous 

 saving in actual money that is almost impossible to adequately estimate. The 



