160 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



mapping by any agency outside of the Branch, it was considered advisable to 

 obtain this information by Aerial Photographic Survey. The area of this block 

 is approximately 720 square miles. 



In the Sault District the area on which information was obtained lies south 

 of the C.P.R, main line between Franz and Heron Bay (Lake Superior) and 

 west of the A.C.R. to the Lake Superior shore line. 



This region, known locally as the Pukaskwa country, is a little known and 

 extremely rough country under license to the Spanish River Company. Inform- 

 ation as to the geography of this territory has been sought for some time to 

 assist in the organization of an improved protection system, the present almost 

 total lack of detail making progress in this direction very difficult. The area 

 of this tract is about 2,200 square miles. 



No attempt can be made in a report of this kind, to deal with the technical 

 problems of this phase of the Branch's aerial operations. It may be briefly 

 stated, however, that some of the greatest difficulties are: 



(1) The large amount of specialized draughting required in the office. 



(2) The necessity of having developing and printing done by an outside 

 organization. 



(3) Inexperienced photographers. 



Dealing with these in detail, (1) above is a drawback which has been inherent 

 in the method and one for which there is no recognized cure at the present time. 

 It is hoped, however, that it will be possible to perfect apparatus, now under 

 construction, to a point where a much more effective system of dealing with 

 the office side of this method of survey will be possible. (2) The necessity of 

 having developing and printing done by an outside organization, has been largely 

 caused by lack of laboratory space and equipment for handling the unusually 

 large size areo films. If space and equipment could be provided, work could 

 be handled much more satisfactorily. At present the only photographic plant 

 in Canada equipped to handle this class of work is maintained by the Canadian 

 Air Board in Ottawa, and as they are engaged in the same line of work, it follows 

 that seasonal requirements are bound to clash. There are no commercial firms 

 in the City of Toronto equipped to properly handle aero-films and prints; nor 

 do commercial photographers turn out particularly high grade work of this 

 kind, since requirements for aerial survey are radically different to those govern- 

 ing the general run of commercial photography. (3) Difficulties arising from 

 the inexperience of aerial photographers have to be met, since it has been the 

 policy of the Branch to develop photographers from the regular staff of observers. 

 This method, while beset with difficulties at the outset, will, it is believed, 

 develop a much better type of aerial survey personnel in the long run. Such a 

 man, in contrast to a professional aerial photographer, will have the following 

 valuable qualifications: (a) an adequate conception of the requirements of the 

 Branch and the particular purpose of survey operations; (b) sufficient ability 

 as an aeronaut and navigator to take complete charge of the photographic flight; 

 (c) a working knowledge of the country to be covered, and an appreciation of 

 the proper proportioning of exposures in relation to the surveying difficulties of 

 different portions of the area. 



The opinion that the skill and experience required to operate an aero camera 

 for photographic survey purposes, can be acquired without any very heavy 

 wastage of film or flying time, is borne out by the experience of the past season. 

 While a certain proportion of the film has not been exposed to the best advantage, 

 only forty out of 1,800 are not readily usable for survey purposes. The above 



