330 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 





Photo by E. A. Sterling. 



WHAT A FORESTER NEEDS HERE. 



IN CRUISING TIMBER IN THE COAST DISTRICT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A LAUNCH IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL AND IT MUST 

 BE SEAWORTHY. HERE IS SHOWN A FORESTER'S LAUNCH AT ANCHOR IN THE PROTECTED WATERS OF A LAGOON. 



over 10 billion feet of British Colum- 

 bia's 300 billion feet of timber is of high 

 grade and immediately accessible to tide 

 water. Since timber of this character, 

 available for cheap logging and water 

 transportation is in greatest demand, it 

 is also of highest value. By the same 

 token, such timber so long as available 

 becomes a basis of values, and since it 

 can be logged cheaply keeps the price of 

 manufactured lumber at low levels. This 

 condition, however, cannot last long, 

 since the quantity of such timber is so 

 distinctly limited. Part of it is being 

 cut each year and part held for better 

 prices. Gradually the supply of logs 

 has to come from farther north, or far- 

 ther inland, and from land not quite so 

 cheaply logged, so that while the quan- 

 tity may be as good, the costs of produc- 

 tion generally are rising, and thereby in- 

 creasing the stumpage value of the high- 

 grade tide-water timber still uncut. 



The kind and character of the timber 

 varies considerably in the coast region. 

 Douglas spruce for about 100 miles 

 north of Vancouver is the most abun- 

 dant species, and in greatest demand 

 and of highest value. It reaches mag- 

 nificent proportions in individual trees, 



the larger specimens often measuring 

 8 to 10 feet in diameter, with a volume 

 of 15,000 feet or over per tree. 



North of the region where Douglas 

 spruce is predominant is an enormous 

 stretch of inside water and shore lines 

 known as the "cedar country." Here 

 occurs red cedar in its optimum develop- 

 ment. In favorable locations are found 

 stands of cedar made up of trees from 

 4 to 10 feet in diameter, of the finest 

 quality, and in quantity occasionally 

 running over 100,000 feet to the acre on 

 considerable areas. Over many square 

 miles cedar will comprise 50 to 80% of 

 the stand. 



Red cedar ranks with southern cy- 

 press as the "wood eternal." Perfectly 

 sound logs are taken from fallen trees, 

 which are known by the age of trees 

 growing over them to have lain in the 

 wood for a hundred years and more. 

 Since the wood is very resistant to de- 

 cay, cedar is widely used for poles and 

 shingles. It is also an excellent building 

 material where great strength is not re- 

 quired, and in texture and firmness of 

 grain is almost unequalled. 



Alone or associated with other spe- 

 cies on the whole west coast is found 



