Cdiuididii Forestry JdiirnoL Jdnnanj, 1918 



M75 



etc. The produclion of this class of 

 material is, at present, considerably 

 below normal, because of the pre- 

 vailini* depression in the lumber busi- 

 ness, which has resulted in many mills 

 working only part time or closing 

 down altogether. This relative stag- 

 nation is due to w'ar conditions which 

 have materially decreased the amount 

 of building. It has also been inten- 

 sified by the prevailing shortage of 

 railway equipment, which has made 

 it difficult to secure transportation. 

 The car shortage has also had the 

 effect of preventing, to a considerable 

 extent, the shipment of mill waste 

 to points where a demand might exist 

 for it for fuel purposes. The amount 

 of mill waste available for fuel has 

 been further limited by the utiliza- 

 tion, in some cases, of spruce and 

 balsam slabs and edgings in the 

 manufacture of pulp. 



(5; Many dealers, who formerly 

 dealt heavily in wood, now give this 

 feature of their business compara- 

 tively little attention, preferring to 

 concentrate upon the handling of 

 coal. In the case of the latter, the 

 financial turnover is quicker than in 

 the wood business, and the demand is 

 more steady and more dependable. 

 Current business is, of course, hand- 

 led, but there is less inclination to tie 

 up investments for the long periods 

 of time that would be required to 

 allow the proper seasoning of block 

 wood. 



The Farmer's Attitude 



(6) In ordinary times, very con- 

 siderable quantities of block wood are 

 cut by farmers from their woodlols 

 during the winter. Under present 



conditions, however, farmers in gen- 

 eral are faced with a severe shortage 

 of labor, which renders them less able 

 than formerly to cut firewood for sale 

 during the winter months. In addi- 

 tion there is less necessity for such 

 action on their part, since war condi- 

 tions have resulted in bringing to 

 them better returns for their crops 

 than has previously been the case 

 under normal conditions. 



(7) Very large quantities of cord- 

 wood are consumed annually by 

 chemical companies for destructive 

 distillation and the manufacture of 

 charcoal. This demand materially 

 reduces the supplies that would other- 

 wise be available for domestic use 

 and is at the same time a factor in 

 holding prices to a relatively high 

 level. 



(8) The increasing settlement of 

 the country, together with the cutting 

 which has previously taken place 

 has naturally reduced the amount of 

 wood conveniently accessible to trans- 

 portation by team or rail. This is 

 notably the case in the vicinity of the 

 larger towns and cities where the 

 demand for fuel is necessarily great- 

 est. This means that taking the 

 situation as a whole it is constantly 

 necessary to go further and further 

 away for an increasing proportion of 

 the supplies of hardwood fuel needed 

 for consumption in the larger towns 

 and cities. This situation renders it 

 more essential than formerly that if a 

 large production of wood fuel is de- 

 sired there should be special atten- 

 tion on the part of some particular 

 organization to see that the action 

 desired is taken on a commensurate 

 scale. 



Canada's Dependance Upon U, S. Coal 



Eastern Canada can not afford to 

 overlook the fact that a very con- 

 siderable proportion of her coal sup- 

 plies must come from mines which are 

 situated in the United States, and 

 over a considerable mileage of United 



States railways. The coal shortage 

 of the United States has been officially 

 estimated to be not less than 50,000 - 

 000 tons. Federal and state fuel 

 administrations have been appointed 

 to assist toward solving- the very 



