Canadian Forcslii/ Journal, February, 1918 



1547 



pulp plants in the east convert large 

 quantities of slabs and edgings; the 

 saw mill waste in British (Columbia 

 offers opportunities for processes out- 

 side the range of the lumber industry. 

 The practical requirement is that 

 utilization must yield a (inancial 

 proht. The close utilization in 

 Europe is out of all proportion to 

 Canadian conditions and we must 

 wait for an increase and spreading of 

 population. The rising cost of wood 

 in Canada is in many ways a blessing 

 and it is only right to place a real 

 value on wood as it stands in the 

 forest. As more and more by-pro- 

 duct industries become feasible, the 

 utilization of waste will bring true 

 economy by throttling the drain on 

 our forest supply. 



A Permanent Forest 

 Looking at the problem in a broad 

 way, the protection and reproduc- 

 tion of the forest overshadows all 

 other duties. The most effective 

 utilization of the wood and waste 

 that is now coming out will not 

 counterbalance the loss of forest 

 wealth and the aim should be to 

 build up in Canada a permanent 

 and ever-expanding forest. It is to 

 the foresters, the lumbermen, the 

 federal and provincial governments 

 that we must look for the carrying 

 out of this policy. The public may 

 well take a renewed interest in fire 

 protection, forest reserves, tree plant- 

 ing, more rigid cutting laws, and 

 measures for natural reproduction. 

 Conditions are favored by the owner- 

 ship of such large proportions of the 

 forest areas by the governments. 



Logging is such a definite proposi- 

 tion each year that it is hard to change 

 the methods so long in use. We 

 know that about 25 per cent, of the 

 tree is left in the woods in the form 

 of limbs, tops, stumps, etc. In 

 general it is not likely that new 

 processes will go far towards saving 

 this material, because there is al- 

 ready so much by-product wood 

 within easier reach at the manufac- 

 turing plants. Burning of slash in 

 the wet seasons appears to be the 

 main duty at present in order to curb 

 forest fires. 



New Conditions Ahead 

 The lumber industry has had a 

 long history in Canada, but now faces 

 new conditions. The manufacture 

 has been so simple and the com- 

 l)etition so light that lumbermen have 

 not been forced to introduce radical 

 changes. Although the plants are 

 widely scattered and the number of 

 specially trained men is small, it is 

 not going too far to say that the 

 lumbermen must get together for an 

 intensive study of their industry. 

 No outside forces can accomplish 

 what they themselves can do by com- 

 paring the mechanical and physical 

 properties of the different woods, ex- 

 tending the use of a species where this 

 is legitimate, eliminating decay in 

 lumber yards, kiln-drying and finish- 

 ing woods to meet special recpure- 

 ments, selecting timber on the basis 

 of quality and welcoming the co- 

 operation of industries and experts 

 for the conversion of waste. Saw- 

 mill waste amounts to about 40 per 

 . cent, of the original tree and consists 

 of slabs, edgings, trimmings, sawdust, 

 bark, shavings, seasoning waste, 

 shaping waste and culls. There are 

 many chances for extending the by- 

 product manufacture of small wooden 

 articles by mechanical processes. A 

 new development in Canada is the 

 chipping and baling of saw-mill 

 waste for shipment to chemical pulp 

 mills. Spruce and white pine have 

 been the main-stays of the lumber 

 industry; Douglas fir is now coming 

 to be recognized as Canada's fore- 

 most structural timber and the im- 

 mense supplies in British Columbia 

 will be a source of great wealth. 



Openings for Enterprise 

 The pulp and paper industry is en- 

 joying a development which is with- 

 out parallel among the wood-using 

 processes of the country. The export 

 figures is now over $50,000,000 an- 

 nually, being half of the total export 

 value of all forest products. The 

 restrictions on pulpwood export and 

 the duty free market for pulp and 

 paper in the United States have 

 rapidly increased manufacture wdthin 

 the country and the ratio is improving 

 every year. From the simple ground- 



