1582 



Canadian Furcstry Journal, March, 1918 



the farmer from South Lyme, never 

 knew before what a good fellow an 

 artist is apt to be. The artists never 

 imagined before that there are knack 

 and genius in the woodman. We 

 chaffed each other, liked each other, 

 and reveled in the company. We 

 luxuriated around the fire, all except 

 a few whose axes we could still hear 

 ringing in the distance. 



Then we went back to our work 

 again to finish up our cords to bear the 

 inspection sticks of the judges, Sam 

 Tooker and Charlie Tompkins. When 

 at three o'clock they told my partner, 

 "That's a good full cord, with some 

 over for good measure," our hearts 

 swelled with i)ride, and we patted the 

 pile with the fondness of fathers. 

 Oh, what wood it was — hard yellow- 



oak, thi.k and solid and sound! 

 There never was such wood, there 

 never was such a dinner, there never 

 were such a crowd of good fellows, 

 there never was such a wonderful 

 idea! We were "it"! 



A Word for Gieenhorns 

 It is not true that greenhorns can't 

 cut wood. We did. It's false that 

 "you will cut your blooming legs off." 

 We didn't. It is nonsense that we 

 are at the coal situation's mercy. 

 We aren't — not altogether. We 



believe we have taken the crimp out of 

 winter. We have our wood. We had 

 our fellowship. We had our fun. We 

 are going to try it again. We are 

 trying to be a self-dependent little 

 community. And we will — because 

 we have a great community spirit. 



A snow hedge of spruces protecting curved track in a cut on C. G. R. in New Brunswick 



Where is the Fuel for Aext Winter? 



"Foresight is always more efTect- 

 ive than hindsight, but in handling 

 the coal situation a combination of 

 both is better than either alone," says 

 a bulletin of the Commission of 

 Conservation. The growing scarcity 

 of fuel during the past few years 

 culminated in a near catastrophe 

 during the present winter. It has 

 surely been demonstrated beyond per- 

 adventure that it is very dangerous to 

 try "to muddle through" any longer. 

 The experience of the past, has not 

 been lost if that lesson has been thor- 

 oughly learned. Indications are not 

 lacking, by any means, that the 



shortage of coal next winter will be 

 more acute than ever. The output 

 of the Nova Scotia coal mines has 

 declined from 7,263,485 tons in 

 1913 to 5,657,000 tons in 1917, or 

 22.75 per cent. Owdng to the 

 steadily growing scarcity of mine 

 labour and to recent serious mine 

 accidents it is evident that there 

 must be a further marked reduction 

 in 1918. At the same time, there 

 has been a large increase in 

 the consumption of coal in the 

 Maritime provinces during those 

 years. In fact, it appears as if the 

 Nova Scotia mines will not be able 



