14 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



then blow uninterruptedly over the denuded land; the streams 

 bereft of the present natural reservoirs which the forest covering 

 at their sources affords, will then be torrents in the spring time, 

 and dry during the summer and winter months, causing destruc- 

 tion to the fish and to navigation; the fur-bearing animals and 

 other game will practically disappear, and instead of having a 

 land with many possibilities, we will have an arctic desert. 



Fortunately the land in this great region is practically all in 

 the possession of the Crown, so that Httle difficulty stands in the 

 way of conservative forestry there. From what has been said 

 it is evident that there is a great field for intelligent forestry in 

 Canada which it should be the aim of the people and of the 

 Governments, both Federal and Provincial, to have put in prac- 

 tice with as little delay as possible. 



Dr. A. Harold Unwin, formerly of the Dominion Forestry 

 Branch, but now of the Imperial Forest Service, writes from 

 West Africa that he has started work in the Western Division by 

 inspecting concessions, i.e., timber limits that are being worked, 

 and also rubber tree plantations that are already set out. This 

 year two hundred new plantations are being worked, scattered 

 over a tract of country about one hundred miles square, and as 

 the inspection has to be made on foot, it takes some time to see 

 the district. 



The concessions cause a great deal of supervision, as no con- 

 cessionaire may ctit any tree under twelve feet in girth at ten feet 

 from the ground, and must plant twenty mahogany seedlings for 

 every large tree he cuts, and must also preserve any young 

 mahogany growth he may find. The latter operations are direct- 

 ed by the forest service. There are twenty-eight foresters, all 

 natives, for the work in the Western Division. In the Central 

 Division there are six foresters. The latter division includes 

 mainly rubber plantations, though there is splendid timber at 

 some distance from the railroad. 



The appropriation for the service is $50,000, and gives ample 

 for everything except the extension of the plantations. The re- 

 venue of the colony is good, and increasing, so that it is expected 

 there will be a larger appropriation in the near future. 



The foresters also have charge of the game in the districts, 

 which consists of several herds of wild elephants, quite a respon- 

 sibility to undertake. 



There is no pine in the country, but the question of intro- 

 ducing Long Leaf Pine is being considered. It will grow well, 

 and the imported timber stands the climates, ants, &c., splendidly. 



