Canadian Forcslry Journal, January, 1918 



1499 



hood. That wood fuel has become 

 so scarce in Clarke in the course of 

 one generation shows a grievous 

 lack of foresight on the part of the 

 past and passing generation, be- 

 cause there are thousands of acres 

 in the township, unlit for agricul- 

 tural purposes, that could have been 

 made a permanent source of wood 

 supply. That these waste areas are 

 not being re-forested is a serious 

 reflection on the present generation. 

 Only 10 Per Cent. Left 

 The case of Clarke Township is 

 not an isolated one. All over On- 

 tario there are men, still not old, 

 who can remember when a large 

 part of Middlesex was included in 

 what was then known as the 

 "■Queen's Bush." To-day, according 

 to the Bureau of Industries, only a 

 little over 10 per cent, of that county 

 remains in forest — not enough to 

 serve as wind-breaks, still less to 

 provide a source of supply for fuel. 

 Of the counties lying west of To- 

 ronto, there are only two that have 

 a fourth of their area wooded. There 

 are eighteen counties in Ontario in 

 which over 80 per cent, of the land 

 is cleared. Peel showing a bad lead 

 with nearly 92 per cent, stripped of 

 timber. In Germany, where the 

 density of population is some hfteen 

 times greater than that of Old On- 

 tario, about one-third of the area 

 was in forest before the war. If 25 

 per cent., at least, of the land in Old 

 Ontario was covered with tree- 

 growth, and this properly conserved, 

 climatic conditions would be better, 

 there would be no failures in water 

 supply, the Province would have 

 nothing to fear from a coal famine, 

 and the land under cultivation could 

 be made to give greater aggregate 

 yields than are secured now\ 



Not Learning by Experience 

 The greatest folly that has been 

 shown in the making of agricultural 

 Old Ontario has been in the whole- 

 sale removal of timber from land 

 unfit for growing anything but tim- 

 ber. The greatest present folly in 

 the same connection is in the fail- 

 ure to take immediate steps for the 

 reafforesting of areas unfit for profit- 



able cultivation. 



The nlost extraordinary thing of 

 all is that in New Ontario— in the 

 great Clay Belt — the folly perpe- 

 trated in Old Ontario is being re- 

 peated. 



In this great north country, which 

 holds so much of hope and possi- 

 bilities, many of the pioneers are 

 treating trees just as their pre- 

 decessors did in the frontier coun- 

 ties a generation ago. Although 

 settlement in the north is but of 

 yesterday, there are considerable 

 areas there, in which the fuel ques- 

 tion is already an acute one. 



The Crown Lands Department is 

 as much at fault as the settlers 

 themselves. It continues, and not 

 improperly, the recpiirement &i a 

 certain area of clearing in return 

 for a deed. Where the Department 

 fails is in not requiring the mainten- 

 ance of a certain portion in bush 

 in return for a continuance of the 

 deed of possession. 



Supervision Needed 

 In Old Ontario drastic regulation 

 is also called for. In some of the 

 European countries, I understand, a 

 private land-owner has not unlimit- 

 ed control over the timber growing 

 on his property. He cannot cut 

 and slash at will. Cutting, in some 

 cases, if I am correctly informed, 

 can only take place after public 

 sanction has been secured^ and cut- 

 ting must be counterbalanced by 

 fresh planting. 



Something of that kind is called 

 for in Ontario. Trees, some trees at 

 least, are longer-lived than men, and 

 it is not right that the possessor of 

 to-day should have full control over 

 the heritage of to-morrow. The fuel 

 question has already reached so 

 acute a stage that in no case should 

 the cutting of immature timber be 

 permitted. , Neither should the 

 stripping of land unfit for tillage, or 

 on creek banks, be allowed. The 

 timber, climate and water situation 

 in this Province is such as to call 

 for the adoption of a well thought- 

 out, comprehensive policy of forest 

 conservation. 



"The most inexcusable feature in 



