202 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



Mountain Timber Reserve. This town was to be our head- 

 quarters. 



After all arrangements had been made about the "grub," and 

 about the — for some of the fellows it looked just as necessary — 

 mail, etc., the party started for the mountain, all expecting 

 interesting work and a pleasant summer. If we were disappoint- 

 ed or not I will leave to the reader to decide after reading this 

 article. 



About twelve or fifteen years ago the timber reserve, con- 

 sisting of about forty-three townships, was visited by immense 

 forest fires devastating considerable areas. Where before had 

 been valuable spruce timber the fire left it a wilderness. The 

 grey tree stems stand there for a time till insects, fungi and storms 

 have played their parts and felled them to the ground, where 

 they in places form an almost impenetrable chaos — in truth a 

 sorrowful sight! These fires were however, confined mostly to 

 the western parts of the mountain, though the east was far from 

 left intact. But still tracts of good forest are left in these eastern 

 parts, and it was there the valuation survey was conducted last 

 summer. 



The first thing that caught my eye was the richness of vege- 

 tation. Following a winding trail up the mountain side you will 

 find poplars, oak and ash, mingled with Manitoba maple, elm 

 and birch. Coming higher up on the second plateau, white and 

 black spruce, larch, poplars, birch and also balsam seem to gain 

 ground and leave the other varieties behind. Jack pine is found 

 in the southeastern part of the Reserve. There are in some of 

 the valleys groves of Manitoba maple. When I first wandered 

 into one of them I was surprised to find, at the foot of almost 

 every tree, a basket shaped thing, made of a single piece of birch 

 bark. On looking more closely I noticed in the trees a cut in 

 which was placed a little piece of wood sloping downwards. 

 Here is where the Indians come in the spring to tap the maples 

 for sap of which they make syrup. 



The undergrowth is quite dense, mostly consisting of hazel 

 and mountain maple. 



The scenery is very picturesque, deep ravines from the 

 bottom of which you can hear the rushing of some rapid river or 

 creek, beautiful little lakes lying there in the stillness of nature, 

 the home for one or two families of the white-breasted northern 

 diver, or a little colony of ducks, and serving, on a hot summer 

 day, as a place of refuge from flies and mosquitos for the aristo- 

 crats of the forest, the proud moose and elk. 



Now, may I ask you, my readers, to forget the worries of 

 life and come' and spend a few days in the camp of the forest 

 survey party. It is the month of August and you will find our 



