Reforestation of Waste Lands. 



83 



years, 20 inches in 110 years, and after 

 that grew at the rate of one inch in 

 thirty years. 



France had done more than any other 

 country in the way of reclaiming waste 

 lands. In south-western France by 

 1865, 200,000 acres of shifting sands, 

 much like those under discussion, were 

 planted at a cost of $2,625,000. The 

 government then sold not quite half the 

 lands for a little more than the cost of 

 the whole, and the remainder was now 

 valued at 810,000,000 on the basis of 

 cutting returns. In the desert of Landes 

 1,750,000 acres had been reclaimed at a 

 cost of $10,500,000. It was now valued 

 at $96,000,000, with an annual revenue 

 of $8,000,000. Two hundred thousand 

 acres of limestone lands had been re- 

 claimed and reforested at a cost of 

 $2,000,000 and were now worth $10,000,- 

 000. Altogether, about 2,300,000 acres 

 had been reclaimed at a cost of $15,000,- 

 000, and these lands to-dav were con- 

 sidered worth $135,000,000', j^elding a 

 revenue of about 7 per cent. 



German forests were also referred to 

 as producing a revenue of $2 to $5 net 

 per acre per vear. Prussia had a revenue 

 of $18,000,000 from its 7,000,000 acres 

 of state forests. For the last forty years 

 it had followed a policy of waste-land 

 planting, acqmring the lands by purchase 

 or exchange. The average cost of these 

 lands had been $17 per acre, and the 

 cost of planting was about the same. 

 By 1902 $6,000,000 had been spent for 

 this purpose and then another ap- 

 propriation of $25,000,000 was made to 

 continue the policy. Dr. Fernow point- 

 ed out that what made the profits of 

 such an undertaking still more sure was 

 the steady increase in the price of 

 lumber. In Germany the average 

 annual increase in the price of lumber for 

 the last one hundred years was 1^ per 

 cent, and for the last ten years 2 to 3 per 

 cent. This was the rule all over the 

 world. While the reclamation of waste 

 lands was a good proposition, a still 

 saner one was to abstain from creating 

 waste lands. Five thousand acres of 

 naturally grown young timber could be 

 guarded by two men employed all the 

 year round for $1,000 per year, or a 



total with interest of $112,797 in fifty 

 years; while to plant the same at $10 

 per acre and guard it would cost over 

 $200,000 in fifty years. This emphasized 

 the fact that young trees have value, a 

 fact that was too often overlooked in the 

 forest fire service by individuals and by 

 governments. 



All the addresses wjre listened to with 

 deep attention, and Dr. Fernow's 

 figures aroused a deep interest. Mr. 

 James Lawler, Secretary of the Canadian 

 Forestry Association, spoke briefly on 

 the advantages of organization in this 

 work and explained the functions of the 

 Association. The closing business of the 

 meeting was the passing of a number of 

 resolutions. These affirmed that there 

 was a large area of waste land in the 

 counties dangerous to surrounding lands 

 and that this should be taken over and 

 re-forested; that efforts should be made 

 by the council of the counties to secure 

 the co-operation of the provincial 

 government in working out a policy of 

 reforestation; and appointing a com- 

 mittee to arrange for a series of meetings 

 next autumn to inform the ratepaj^ers 

 on this subject, the series concluding 

 with a monster meeting at the December 

 meeting of the council of the counties 

 when definite action is to be taken. 



Another A tract of one million 



Forest acres in the Rainy 



Reserve i.\ River district has been 



Ontario. set apart by the On- 



tario Government by 

 Order-in-Council, on the recommenda- 

 tion of Hon. Frank Cochrane, Minister 

 of Lands, Forests and Mines. The tract 

 is situated between Fort Frances and 

 Port Arthur, and half of the area is 

 comprised in Hunter's Island. The 

 name chosen for the reserve is the 

 "Quetigo Forest Reserve." The tract 

 contains a large quantity of pine land, 

 and will be a fish and game reserve as 

 well as a forest reserve. The Minnesota 

 state government has a large reserve 

 just across the boundary. The total 

 area of Ontario reserves will now be 

 about 12.700,000 acres. 



