Canadian Forcsfrij Journal, March, 1918 



1595 



The Forester's Place in the Planning and 

 Operating of Wood Industries 



By W. F. V. Atkinson, F. E. 



Chief Forester and Sup't of Water Powers, Spanish River Pulp and 



Paper Mills 



The Forest Engineer must have accurate acquaintance with 

 finance, mill processes, water powers, and transportation. 



I have asked been for a few prac- 

 tical remarks on some points where 

 forest engineering touches related 

 subjects. I shall therefore avoid all 

 technicalities and mention only a few 

 points where it seems to me necessary 

 that the forester should not only be 

 willing, but properly equipped, to 

 handle certain matters and to carry 

 them through to a stage where the 

 work can be more properly carried 

 on by the civil engineer. The for- 

 ester will thus bridge a gap which is 

 at present very inadequately covered 

 and which my experience has shown 

 should properly be approached from 

 his side. There is no hard and fast 

 Une of demarcation but I feel thai 

 there is not the proper appreciaton 

 of the fact that both foresters and 

 civil engineers can work together in 

 this middle ground until the point is 

 reached where each becomes a spec- 

 ialist in his own line. 



Let us suppose a group of capita- 

 lists have determined to establish a 

 new^sprint plant and that a water 

 power and tract of timber land have 

 been offered to them for this purpose. 

 The civil engineer can tell them W'hat 

 power is needed to produce the 

 amount of paper required to supply 

 the market demand which they have 

 in view, he can measure up the water 

 power in question as he finds it, and 

 can say if it will produce enough 

 power for the purpose, but he should, 

 nay he must, call in a forester if he 

 wishes to know to what extent this 

 water power can be improved- and 

 controlled. The operating or de- 

 velopment of a power now, without 

 knowledge of its possible control, is 

 among the things of the past in this 

 country. 



Watershed Conditions 

 The forest conditions upon the 

 watershed are a prime factor in this 

 improvement, very much greater than 

 is generally realized. The drainage 

 area probably contains farms and 

 cleared lands, waste areas and bar- 

 rens, mature and young forest. The 

 forest in turn is either deciduous or 

 coniferous, or mixed. All these con- 

 ditions have a different bearing on 

 the annual run-off. 



The forester's type maps have here 

 a great value, in fact they are a 

 "sine qua non" to a real appreciation 

 of the problem of efficient control. 

 From their topography the area and 

 slope of the various catchment basins 

 can be measured and the required 

 storages established by building dams 

 where possible, with the greatest 

 economy, from a correct knowledge 

 of the size required. A study of the 

 forest types is essential together with 

 a knowledge ot the meteorological, 

 botanical, and geological conditions 

 in the order named. And who is 

 better qualified by his training than 

 the forester to appreciate the pro- 

 portionate value of each — as for in- 

 stance under the first set of condi- 

 tions, precipitation, evaporation, 

 temperature, and wind protection; 

 under the second, the ecology of ab- 

 sorption and transpiration, shade and 

 humus; and under the third, the 

 geology of soil percolation, drainage 

 and ground waters. 



Some ready formulae may also be 

 found convenient in answermg the 

 demands of our enlightened capitalist 

 since too much capital has already 

 been invested in developments with- 

 out expert reports covering the whole 

 proposition. These formulae should 



