1574 



Cdnadidn Forcslrij Juurrtdl, Mdich, lUlH 



The Forests of Canada in Peace and War 



Bv RoBSON Black 

 Secretary, The Canadian Forcslrij Assuciatiun Oltaiva 



The Vital Relation of the Dominion's Forests 

 to the Future Safety of the British Empire ! 



LOOK a moment at the map on 

 the opposite page! Notice that 

 strip of solid black across Can- 

 ada! It is the British Empire's chief 

 forest resource, the only coniferous 

 timber supply along the All-Red 

 Route. 



Australia and New Zealand, al- 

 though once well forested have 

 wrecked their great inheritance 

 through fires and ruthless operations. 

 South Africa has to import its big 

 timber from outside. Parts of India, 

 notably Burma, are rich in hard wood 

 supplies but the selling price alone 

 would make their general use pro- 

 hibitive. 



John Bull, in peace time, places a 

 tremendous drain on the world's 

 forests. He requires 600 million 

 cubic feet to keep him going a year. 

 Omy one log out of eight used is 

 grown in the British Isles. The 

 balance he brought from Russia, 

 Scandinavia, and America. His 



cheque for Canadian lumber and 

 square timber is about $14,000,000 a 

 "year. 



John Bull in time of war found the 

 problem of getting timber supplies 

 as great a source of worry as his shell 

 output. Ships could not be spared 

 for transporting such bulky cargoes 

 across the Atlantic, or even the 

 North Sea. Premier Lloyd George 

 repeatedly expressed anxiety over 

 the maintenance of timber supplies, 

 for during the first two years of the 

 war more ships were used for timber 

 than for any other import. "The 

 situation," said the Premier, "calls 

 for the gravest uneasiness." The 

 employment of Forestry Battalions in 

 the British Isles relieved the situa- 

 tion substantially, although that 

 drastic course has almost under- 



mined the foundations of Britain's 

 mature timber stands. Little, if any, 

 British timber is sent to France be- 

 cause of pressing requirements at 

 home. The forests of France, so 

 splendidly planned a century ago, and 

 jealously guarded from fire and reck- 

 less exploiters, are able to furnish the 

 fighting front with 200 million feet of 

 timber each month and to keep 

 British coal mines supplied with pit 

 props as well. Nearly 30,000 French 

 trees are falling every day in order 

 to hold back the German legions. 

 Without rich forests, France <pro- 

 bably could not have offered success- 

 ful resistance a single month, nor in 

 such case could any of the Allies have 

 risked offensive actioii. 



When the War Ends, What'2 



With home forests depleted far 

 below the inadequate level of pre- 

 war days. Great Britain is even now 

 preparing for a great reforesting en- 

 terprise. But that means a long 

 waiting period for mature timber. 

 France will have little to sell abroad. 

 Belgium's forests have already paid 

 the invader's price. Italy's forests 

 are inconsequential. 



Britain, therefore, wiU be forced 

 to turn again to her old sources of 

 timber supply and those sources are 

 in the main, Russia, Norway, Swe- 

 den, What the fates hold for Russia's 

 political organization none may say; 

 as to what control of the natural 

 resources and export trade the Ger- 

 man marauders may impose, only 

 the present dangerous developments 

 in the Baltic offer any clue. "Should 

 Russia, on which we have latterly 

 been mainly dependent, now enter 

 on a period of development, she will 

 soon, like the United States, herself 



