Canadian Forcslrii JournaL Mai;, 1918 



1689 



In these days of hii>h sliimpage 

 v-alues it was our opinion the tarifT 

 rates existing when we came into 

 ofl'ice were not in keeping with those 

 charged by owners of private lands, 

 accordingly we raised the rates on 

 spruce from $1.50 to S2.5() per 

 thousand, other lumber in proportion. 

 The increased rate has been well 

 received, so far as can be ascertained, 

 by the licensees. The renewal rate 

 of S8 a square mile annually has been 

 left the same. 



During the year arrangements have 

 been made for the placing of five 

 parties in the field, whereas last year 

 there were but three. These parties 

 completed the survey and inspection, 

 under forestry methods, of 925,000 

 acres, which is now being tabulated 

 and mapped in this department. 

 The total area surveyed so far 

 amounts to 1,245,000 acres, or 16 V2 

 per cent, of the Crown lands. While 

 the cost of labor and supplies has 

 increased from last year the cost per 

 acre of the survey makes a very 

 favorable showing. The figures are 

 as follows: 1916, $27.20 per square 

 mile: 1917, $27.07 per square mile. 

 The total amount expended since the 

 inception of the survey is $44,574.57. 



There has also been introduced in 

 the New Brunswick Legislature, im- 

 portant measures with the object of 

 giving greater protection to the 

 forests of the province and to stop 

 the wastage which has been going on 

 for years. In speaking of the pro- 

 posed new Acts Hon. Mr. Smith said 

 in part: — 



Stop Deterioration 



The most casual observer could 

 note that the forests are failing. It 

 would take only a visit to the rivers 

 or mill ponds to see the change that 

 had taken place within a compara- 

 tively short time, in the size and 

 quality of the saw logs. Fir, which a 

 few years ago was left standing in the 

 forest, had come to a compromise 

 thirty or forty per cent, of the 

 operations. This was prima facie 

 evidence that the spruce was being 

 depleted rapidly. In the early days 

 of New Brunswick, white pine formed 

 the most valuable part of the forest. 



and huge (uianlilies of that limber 

 were ex])orted to (ireat Britain. 

 White pine failed to reproduce to any 

 extent and lillle remains in the pro- 

 vince at the present lime. Later 

 spruce was in demand. Large mills 

 and scores of portable mills were 

 operated to meet the demand for 

 spruce and in consequence of the 

 indiflerence and the wasteful methods 

 of the jobbers, spruce fast was going 

 the way of the pine. 



Scalers' returns from 1910 to 1917 

 inclusive give a total cut of 2,228.- 

 337,215 feet, an average cut of 

 275,500.000 feet per year. This 

 would indicate that the present as- 

 sumed commercial softwood stand is 

 about eighteen times the average cut 

 of the last eight years. This did not 

 mean that the softwood would be 

 exhausted in eighteen years, because 

 the annual growth was applied against 

 the annual cut. 



An annual growth could be ex- 

 pected on the greater portion of the 

 timber estimate given before, and also 

 on under size spruce and fir, which 

 would be in the vicinitv of 5,000,- 

 000,(X)0 feet. Some of' the under- 

 sized timber would reach commercial 

 size in eighteen years. The average 

 annual growth would apply to not 

 more than five million acres. 



Superrise Scaling 



The outlook for a large return for 

 the present logging season was not 

 promising. From the information at 

 hand the cut would not be more than 

 fifty per cent, as compared with last 

 year. One of the first questions that 

 the government had taken up was the 

 unsatisfactory method of obtaining 

 a true account of the lumber cut on 

 Crown lands. 

 The general principle, he said, was 

 to pay the scaler a flat rate of seven 

 and one-half cents per thousand on 

 the logs he scaled, this presumably 

 being thought an incentive to the 

 scaler to get as large a count as 

 possible to remunerate him for his 

 activity. However well this may 

 look in principle, in practice it is not 

 borne out. 



We have therefore decided to com- 

 mence building up an outside service 



