164 EEPORT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



reserve visiting the various beats and inspecting the work done. A super- 

 intendent chained to his headquarters for days at a time could never 

 satisfactorily discharge this most important duty. 



Further, it would appear that in the interests of systematic admin- 

 istration and co-ordination of the arrangements in the different reserves 

 the time is approaching, if indeed it has not come, when an official should 

 be appointed exclusively to supervise the provincial forest reserves. A 

 great many improvements will most certainly have to be carried out in 

 these reserves; a great deal of work will always be on hand in them; 

 and just as there will always be the necessity of supervising the rangers 

 on their respective beats, so also would it appear indispensable that each 

 reserve should be more or less frequently visited by a responsible official 

 to insure that the instructions and wishes of the Department are being 

 carried into actual effect. It is impossible to reduce to writing in a few 

 brief orders the perfection of organization and arrangement in all its 

 detail which it may be desired to produce, and the interpretation of such 

 orders on the subject as are issued will almost invariably be construed 

 in different ways by different persons. It is plainly impossible for the 

 Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines to devote sufficient of his time to 

 attend personally to the carrying out of the full detail of his plans in 

 regard to all the provincial reserves, and it must appear, therefore, that 

 he should have to his hand an instrument for insuring that his instruc- 

 tions in this regard are being carried out in the manner he intends. That 

 there is ample work to keep such an official busy throughout the year is 

 evident, and it can hardly be doubted that the provincial reserves would 

 benefit greatly were such an appointment made, for not only would it 

 tend to prevent the lack of interest or control on the part of the super- 

 intendents and their staffs, but it would mean, also, that sound and 

 effective organization would be introduced into one and all of them, and 

 such improvements and devices as were found to be effective in one re- 

 serve could promptly be introduced into the others also. If the sugges- 

 tion, previously made in this section, of utilizing the fur resources of the 

 reserves as a means of obtaining revenue were carried into effect, it 

 would afford an additional reason for the creation of such a post and 

 enhance its importance, for undoubtedly the sums involved would soon 

 attain considerable proportions and the necessity for close supervision 

 of the catch and the collection and disposal of the pelts would become 

 imperative. It is, moreover, beyond doubt that at the present time not 

 only are the public, to a great extent, ignorant of the attractions of the 

 various provincial reserves and the facilities afforded in them, but that 

 in several of them there yet remains much to be learned by the authori- 

 ties. A permanent official, occupied exclusively with the care of the 

 reserves, could be expected to collect and collate all useful infor- 

 mation on the subject, so that the same might be published by the 

 government in handy form for public information. There can be little 

 question that if the scenic, canoeing, angling and camping facilities of 



