Forest Fires of May and June. 



101 



On May 31st a serious fire was reported 

 near Xappadogan Lake. On June 4th 

 it was reported that near Waweig 

 (Charlotte County) a tract of heavily 

 timbered land two miles long by a mile 

 to a mile and a half wide had been swept . 

 The fire was first noticed shortly after 

 a C.P.R. train had passed. Hartland 

 also reported forest fires on the same 

 date. 



Fires continued to be reported from 

 various widely separated parts of the 

 province. Carleton County was the 

 chief sufiFerer; the village of Coldstream 

 was in great danger, but a fortunate 

 change of wind saved it, while at 

 Carlisle several buildings were de- 

 stroyed. The forests at the headwaters 

 of the Miramichi were in great danger. 

 From Tapley Mills to Woodstock a 

 stretch of eight miles was burned over. 

 Fires were also reported in St. John 

 County. Along the Keswick stream 

 fifty square miles of fine timberland 

 were said to have been burned over. 

 On June 7th and for several days there- 

 after the atmosphere at Fredericton was 

 heavy with smoke. In the Grand Falls 

 district — at Grand Falls and on Mira- 

 michi Lake — contractors on the N.T.R. 

 were having a hard fight with the fires, 

 while the C.P.R. had large gangs of men 

 fighting fire along the Gibson branch 

 from Fredericton to Woodstock. The 

 N.B. Railway Company and the Mira- 

 michi Lumber Company had consider- 

 able timber destroved by fire. 



About the tenth of June the fires, 

 which had somewhat abated, were again 

 stirred up by high winds. On the Mira- 

 michi River the fires were especially 

 serious. A large saw-mill near Cam.p- 

 bellton, with a large quantity of lumber 

 and shingles, were destroved, and the 

 staff, with their families, forced to flee 

 for their lives. Fires were also raging 

 at Renous River, in Rogerville parish 

 and at Lockstead, Busbv siding and 

 Taxis River. Rains coming on about 

 the middle of the month aided in ex- 

 tinguishing the fires. According to in- 

 formation received at the Crown Lands 

 Office three-fourths of the fires were 

 caused by farmers burning bru.sh. 



In Nova Scotia severe fires were re- 

 ported in Gnvsborough County and 

 near Port i\Iorien Junction, C.B. 



In Quebec a fire about a mile in 

 length was reported from St. Romuald. 

 At St. Francis. D. Fraser &: Son's mill. 



together with most of the dwellings in 

 the village near-by, was destroyed. 

 Much damage was done to timber 

 limits on the north and south shores of 

 the St. Lawrence and along the line of 

 the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway. 

 In Bonaventure County hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars' worth of loss is 

 said to have been caused by the fires. 



Forest fires were reported from Elk 

 Lake, Ont., on June 3rd, on J. R. 

 Booth's limits and the Big Six Mining 

 Company's property. On the line of the 

 Algoma Central Railway, a few days 

 later, the fire coxered a stretch of 

 country some six miles long by six 

 miles wide (three miles on each side of 

 the railway). A couple of camps were 

 destroyed and others were threatened. 

 Shortly afterwards serious fires were 

 reported from near Kenora and large 

 fires also near Port Arthur. 



A very serious fire raged along the 

 Prince Albert branch of the C.X.R.; 

 the burned district was said to be almost 

 100 miles long. A large saw-mill and a 

 four-span bridge on the C.X.R. were 

 among the property destroyed; the 

 losses totalled S 7 5. 000. 



Many forest fires were said to be rag- 

 ing during the first few days of the 

 month in the interior of Newfoundland, 

 and in Michigan there were many fires 

 between Sault Ste. Marie and Ignace. 



An Ontario In a pamphlet of some 

 Problem. thirty pages, published 



by the Ontario De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Mr. E. J. 

 Zavitz, Forester to the Department, 

 writes of the Reforestation of Waste 

 Lands in Southern Ontario. The author 

 outlines the extent of sand lands in the 

 counties of Norfolk. Lambton, Simcoe, 

 Northumberland and Durham, and dis- 

 cusses the cost of artificial reforesta- 

 tion under the headings of Cost of Land, 

 Cost of Plants, Cost of Planting, Cost of 

 Management and Protection. Rate of 

 Interest, Taxation and Estimates of 

 Investment. On an acre of white pine 

 land, managed on a rotation of sixty 

 years he figures a profit of S639.66, 

 equivalent to a yearly income of S3. 25. 

 The total e.xpense of management dur- 

 ing the sixty years amount to S165.34; 

 the gross proceeds to ?800.00. The 

 report is illustr.'at<^d with a number of 

 fine half-tones and two maps. 



