36 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



the entire summer, destroying thousands of square miles of valu- 

 able timber to the south of the central watershed. In 1894, 

 he wrote: "These fires are due to various causes, but the 

 majority of them can be traced to the Indians, who start them 

 either through carelessness or intentionally" ; also: "At least one- 

 half the forest area of the interior has been totally destroyed by 

 lire within the past twenty-five or thirty years." This is a most 

 alarming state of affairs, and causes the Bureau of Forestry a 

 great deal of anxiety, as the general public seems perfectly apa- 

 thetic about the matter. When Canadians begin to look upon 

 the forest as belonging to the nation — as an extremely valuable 

 national asset — they will insist upon having it better protected 

 from fire. Meantime the Bureau has done some very effective 

 work in diminishing the number of fires in the forests of the far 

 north and north-west. At every portage along the principal 

 canoe routes, notices, printed in English, French and Indian dia- 

 lects, have been posted, warning travellers of the danger to the 

 forest from fires which have not been completely extinguished, 

 and there is plentv of evidence to show that these warnings are 

 heeded. The greatest danger seems to be from settlers, hunters 

 and tourists, very few of whom seem to understand the extreme- 

 Iv inflammable nature of these northern forests. In hot weather 

 the moisture is thoroughly dried out of the gummy leaves and 

 branches, and the mossy ground is as dry as tinder, A tiny spark 

 at such a time as this may give rise to one of the wildest scenes 

 of destruction of which tbe world is capable. The resin and tur- 

 pentine in the leaves burn with great rapidity, and the trees 

 stand so close together that an irresistible front of flame is soon 

 developed and sweeps forward, devouring the forest before it like 

 drv grass in a running prairie fire. The pitchy trees burn almost 

 explosivelv, great sheets of flame extending to a height of two 

 hundred feet from the ground, and darting forward to bridge 

 over open spaces, such as lakes and rivers, and start afresh in ad- 

 vance of the main column. The speed of such forest fires is al- 

 most incredible, one of them being known to travel 130 miles in 

 12 hours, or nearly eleven miles an hour. In a few hours millions 

 of dollars worth of timber may be swept out of existence, and the 

 soil impoverished for centuries. Most of the provinces have excel- 

 lent laws regulating the cutting of timber on crown lands, but in 

 all cases the protection from fire is entirely inadequate. In 1903 

 the Province of Quebec spent $9,694 (S17,000, less a fire tax of 

 $7,306) to protect a revenue of over a million dollars, but where 

 will the revenue for the next fifty years come from if fire gets into 

 the timbered areas? In the Gatineau district each fire ranger is 

 held responsible for 360 square miles, on the lower Ottawa for 585 

 square miles, and in the St. Maurice district, for 1,316 square 

 miles! This is certainly better than no rangers at all, but which 

 of my readers would like to be held responsible for so great a 



