West African Forests and Forestry. 175 



of young trees is made near and around the stump of the old 

 tree and seedUngs are also put in along the hauling roads. In 

 this way a future growth is assured. In three years one of 

 the plants has attained a height of 20 feet, and the average 

 is even 15 feet. 



Besides this the girth limit insures fresh supplies though 

 the forest is a little abnormal in respect of small trees, but this 

 may only be local, as by no means every portion has been visited. 



It will thus be seen that a permanent supply of timber is 

 aimed at and is no doubt secured. But it may be asked at what 

 cost. Roughly, 50 small and 12 large areas have been and are 

 being worked by several different firms paying royalty and 

 export duty, in the aggregate about $15 per tree (not at all heavy 

 with such valuable wood). 



Recently, during 1904 and 1903, more than enough was raised 

 in this way to pay for the Forestry Department (vote, 1904- 

 1905, $50,000), which is all the more satisfactory as all the roy- 

 alty goes to the native chiefs and not into the treasury, which 

 reduces the total raised by quite a fifth. 



In a further paper it may be of interest to follow the whole 

 organization in detail. 



Through the kindness of Mr. R. S. Cook, of Prince Albert, 

 we are enabled to show in this issue two pictures of forest scenes 

 in the district north of the Saskatchewan River. It will be 

 somewhat of a surprise to those who have considered the western 

 provinces as all prairie land to see the size of the timber that 

 is being cut. The most important forest growth in that dis- 

 trict is spruce, but some large aspen poplar may be observed 

 among the standing timber in the photograph. Jack pine is 

 also found on the lighter soil of this district. 



A fact of special interest is the discovery by Mr. Wm. 

 Mclnnes, of the Geological Survey staff, of a new species of 

 birch in the district north of Lake Superior. Specimens of a 

 black birch noted in the previous \-ear were brought home and 

 handed to Professor John Macoun, who submitted them to Dr. 

 C. S. Sargent for determination. Dr. Sargent named this birch 

 Betula jontinalis, Sargent, a species formerly confounded with 

 B. occidentalis , Nutt. The range of this tree in the sub-arctic 

 region is not yet known. Specimens of this birch were found 

 last year as far north as latitude 53° 3 5' north. 



