Canadian Forestry Convention 23 



do to make the production of wheat and other field crops there 

 assured year in and year out without reference to what may be a 

 particular season's climate. We are fortunate in many ways 

 in looking forward to this. Just to the west of the area I have 

 described, we have the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. 

 The eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains are clothed at the 

 present time almost entirely with a forest growth, a forest growth, 

 which, perhaps some lumbermen might not consider of the 

 greatest value, a forest growth which does not compare with the 

 growth of the forests in British Columbia and does not compare 

 with the growth of the forest in the old days in this Ottawa 

 valley, but still a very considerable forest growth, a forest growth, 

 which, at any rate, is quite sufficient to conserve and keep per- 

 manently conserved all the water supply which flows down 

 through the streams on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains 

 most of which water eventually finds its way into the Sas- 

 katchewan River. Up to the present time, I do not think that 

 any material inroads have been made into that forest growth, but 

 I venture to predict, unless the greatest care is exercised to 

 preserve it in the near future, the moisture of our plains 

 will be considerably sacrificed and the mighty rivers which 

 to-day come out of those hills and course through that prairie 

 region will be turned, in the spring-time into floods and in the 

 stunmer-time into dry water-courses. These great rivers and 

 streams have cut deep courses through the fertile prairie, and as 

 a general rule, the water-course itself is considerably sunk below 

 the general prairie level. The farther and farther you go from 

 the hills, the deeper and deeper becomes the valley in which the 

 river runs. Fortunately, the general descent of the whole plain 

 is so great that it is not a very difficult task to take the water out 

 from the upper reaches of these rivers and by carrying it along 

 on the upper levels over the prairie and keeping it within bounds 

 we are able to distribute it over large areas of that country 

 through irrigation, securing and ensuring the future development 

 and cropping of the countr\'. I believe that this is one of the 

 most important pieces of work which the Government and people 

 of this country must look to and see in the future. 



A paper on " Forestry and Irrigation." prepared by Mr. J. S. 

 Dennis, Commissioner of Irrigation for the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway Company, was read by Mr. Pearce. Mr. Dennis pointed 

 out the great value of the irrigation works in Southern Alberta, 

 amounting to $3,500,000, and the necessity for preserving the 

 forests on the watersheds of the eastern slope of the Rocky 

 Mountains in order to preserve the water supply. 



"Water Powers " was the subject of a paper by Cecil B. 

 Smith, C E., Chairman of the Temiskaming Railway Commission, 

 which is reproduced farther on. 



