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Canadidn Foreslri] Journal, March, 1918 



cover among other things the horse 

 power equivalent to a ton of ground 

 wood pulp, the complemenlary or 

 auxiliary power required for mechani- 

 cal and hydro-electric energy, the 

 number of cords of pulp wood, or 

 their cubic fool equivalent, entering 

 into a ton of newsprint of various 

 percentages of mechanical and chemi- 

 cal wood pulp, etc. 



Questions for the Forester 



This brings us to the main ques- 

 tions a forester should be asked, 

 namely, how much wood is required 

 for the proposed plant and possibly 

 its board measure equivalent under 

 any of the hve official log scales in 

 this country, whether the timber 

 property offered is properly related to 

 the proposed annual output and 

 power development, and whether the 

 proposed timber tract will produce 

 wood for a sufficiently long -time to 

 pay interest and create a sinking fund 

 to cover the original outlay and pro- 

 duce a fair profit on the venture. 

 Time thus becomes a large, if not the 

 main factor to be considered. The 

 financial expert will state how many 

 years will be required to make this 

 venture a success at a continuous 

 production of and estimated profit 

 on so many tons of, let us say, news- 

 print. Here again some knowledge 

 outside the line of forestry will be of 

 value in checking up this period as 

 well as a general idea of the cost of 

 such plants. 



When the period has been estab- 

 lished in a satisfactory manner, a 

 forest reconnaissance survey may 

 suffice to show whether the vendors 

 of the tract of timber offered have 

 made a reasonable statement of its 

 pulpwood stand and if it is all com- 

 mercially accessible, leaving the for- 

 ester's type maps and survey to be 

 carried on after the property has 

 been acquired; but the forester should 

 know before making this reconnais- 

 sance how much wood is required to 

 produce the given number of tons of 

 paper per day continuously for the 

 period of years which has been ac- 

 cepted as sufficient to make the 

 venture a success. As a result of 

 careful and continuous investigation, 

 tests and measurements, even to the 



use of the xylometer, these factors 

 are now available. 



Insurance of Investments 



A further point which in the initial 

 stages shoulcl be prominently brought 

 forward by a forester called upon in 

 the above capacity, is that of insur- 

 ance or protection of the investment, 

 so that investors, called upon to sub- 

 scribe to bonds of an industry such 

 as this may be fully aware of the 

 dangers which they run, as a rule 

 cheerfullv, because "ignorance is 

 bliss." 



With full advisement I feel sure 

 that no capital would be subscribed 

 on a mortgage of such an industry 

 in the shape of bonds unless a special 

 stipulation were made in the bond 

 deed that efficient fire protection 

 should be provided immediately and 

 maintained continuously. Of course, 

 accidents beyond human control will 

 ever occur. Within the last year I had 

 the opportunity to show the Presi- 

 dent of a large corporation that the 

 Management were incurring a need- 

 less personal liability in not providing 

 what experts could show him to be an 

 efficient protection for the invested 

 interests in a large timber tract. I 

 feel gratified to say that this gentle- 

 man felt it to be good business policy, 

 at the first opportunity, to "get out 

 from under" tne personal responsi- 

 bility in this respect, to the great 

 benefit, I believe, of the interested 

 parties and the country, which in the 

 last analysis is the bigger loser by 

 neglect of this precaution. 

 Cheap Transport 



I should not pass over the question 

 of transportation of the forest cut to 

 the point of manufacture. This is 

 also in my opinion a large part of the 

 forester's duty. An estimate of the 

 cost of same and of the best means of 

 affecting it should be included in his 

 preliminary report. In most cases 

 in this country where developments 

 of the nature which I have just sug- 

 gested are undertaken, the river 

 which supplies the power is the most 

 economical road for the forest cut to 

 the manufacturing plant, but in some 

 cases railroading is more efficient 

 and economical and there is, besides, 

 no loss in transit. 



