126 



Canadian Forestry Journal. 



sumption of Vv'ood is superior to the 

 normal production of all accessibie 

 forests, and there is a deficit in this 

 production that is temporarily com- 

 pensated for by the destruction of 

 forests." In other words, we are living 

 on our forest capital, and everyone 

 knows where such a spendthrift proceed- 

 ing must ultimately land either the 

 community or the individual. 



The increasing difficulty in obtaining 

 supplies of timber is clearly reflected in 

 the rise of price on the English market . 

 The most important class of imported 

 wood is classed in the Board of Trade 

 returns as "Sawn or split, planed or 

 dressed," and whereas, according to 

 Sauerbeck's figures, the average price 

 for the ten years, 1888-1897, was 44s. 6d. 

 per load, it was 57s. in 1907, a rise, 

 namely, of 28 per cent. Striking as is 

 this rise, it only represents a half truth, 

 for we have to bear in mind two facts, 

 the one, that during that time certain of 

 the more valuable classes of timber were 

 getting scarcer on the market (e.g. the 

 White Pine of Canada and the Eastern 

 United States, and the Kauri Pine of 

 New Zealand); and the other, that the 

 quality of imported timber generally 

 has been steadily and rapidly falling for 

 some years. SeA^eral witnesses examin- 

 ed by the Royal Commission on Coast 

 Erosion and Afi'orestation stated that 

 timber now passed as Grade II would 

 have been put into Grade IV or V twenty 

 or thirty years ago.^ If, in fact, we 

 could compare exactly the same quality 

 of timber to-day with that of fifteen 

 years ago, we should find that the rise 

 in price in the interval was much more 

 than 28 per cent. The United States 

 Department of Agriculture has made 



1 Report p. 9, Vol. II and the evidence of 

 Parry, Henzell, Walker, Forbes, Margerison, Mac- 

 kenzie and Somerville. 



such a comparison for the years 1886 to 

 1908 in a tabular sheet recently issued,^ 

 which shows that of thirty-two brands of 

 timber nine had risen 100 per cent, and 

 over, fourteen from 50 to 100 per cent., 

 seven from 25 to 50 per cent, and only 

 two less than 25 per cent. 



There are, of course, those who main- 

 tain that all fears of a timber famine are 

 groundless, and that when the proper 

 time comes, some way will be found for 

 getting the huge supplies that exist in 

 Siberia to the world's markets. They 

 also point to the use of iron and con- 

 crete as substitutes for wood, and of the 

 stalks of sugar cane as a substitute for 

 pulp wood. But in spite of the fact that 

 other substances are now being used to 

 replace wood for certain purposes, 

 statistics show that the consumption of 

 timber is annually increasing, and that 

 the maintenance of the supply is one 

 of the most important economic pro- 

 blems that confront mankind. It is 

 extremely difficult to say how much 

 can be done in this direction, but at 

 least it is obvious that a great effort 

 should be made to save timber from 

 wasteful destruction by forest fires. It 

 is also clearly in the interests of every 

 country to see that forests are exploited 

 in such a way as to secure immediate 

 regeneration of the denuded areas. 

 And, lastly, it is becoming more and 

 more recognized that silviculture offers 

 a means for the profitable utilization of 

 much waste land, and of land that is at 

 present yielding a rent of only a few 

 pence per acre for rough grazing. These 

 and many other aspects of the timber 

 problem cannot be amplified in the 

 present paper, though perhaps other 

 members of the association may find 

 time to deal with them. 



1 Wholesale Lumber Prices, 1886-1908. 



The Tree Planting Problem in Western Saskatchewan 

 and Southern Alberta. 



By a. Mitchell, Tree Planting Division Forestry Branch. 



Most people coming into the Western 

 Provinces for the first time are struck 

 forcibly with two important aspects 

 peculiar to the prairies, namely, their 

 immense area and their treelessness. 



All the way up from Winnipeg to a 

 point a few miles east of Regina native 

 poplar growth may be seen on either 

 hand from the train; but from that 

 point to the foothills of the Rockies, a 



