1804 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July, 1918 



The Motor Cycle and Side Car have been found to do good work in the 

 St. Maurice Forest Protective Association Territory. 



FORESTRY IS FORESIGHT 



There is urgent need for a definite 

 stock-taking of the commercial tim- 

 ber and pulpwood now available. 

 Mathematical accuracy is not essen- 

 tial, but sufficient cruising and gath- 

 ering of data should be completed to 

 permit of reliable estimates being 

 made, much work has already been 

 done by the Commission of Conserv- 

 ation in British Columbia. Similar 

 work will be done m Ontario, as soon 

 as the funds are available and the 

 necessary organization has been com- 

 pleted. Then, too, the provincial 

 government of New Brunswick is 

 engaged in making such a survey. 

 As yet, however, only a partial me- 

 thodical stock-taking has been made 

 of the available pulpwood supplies 

 of Quebec. Quebec has, however, 

 the most important pulpwood area 

 in Canada. The transportation fa- 

 cilities of the province, both nat- 

 ural and artificial, are excellent for 

 the delivery of pulpwood and pulp- 

 wood products on the important 

 markets in America and England. 



Much additional information as 

 to the amount, distribution and 

 accessibility of these pulpwood areas 

 should be ascertained. Then, mea- 

 surements of each tree in typical areas 



set apart for that purpose, should 

 be made from time to time to ascer- 

 tain the natural annual increase in 

 diameter under normal conditions in 

 the forest. This information would 

 make possible a close estimate of the 

 probable duration of the supply. 

 But unless there is a replacement 

 of the trees removed, it is obvious 

 that the supply can only last for one 

 generation of trees. In a study of a 

 limited area in the St. Maurice 

 valley, Dr. Howe found that balsam 

 and hardwoods predominate in the 

 new growths, and that spruce and 

 pine are being steadily and surely 

 depleted. By practising scientific 

 forestry and by discovering means 

 for utilizing the hardwood forests 

 profitably, much may be done to 

 correct this defect. However, to 

 improve upon nature, it is necessary 

 to know how nature acts and reacts 

 upon the thing we wish to improve. 

 Thus fur, no determined and sustain- 

 ed efforts have been made in Canada 

 to get such data in regard io forests. 

 It will be essential to discard the 

 trust-to-luck-and-to-nalure policy and 

 substitute therefore a policy based 

 on knowledge obtained by scientific 

 studies of conditions. 



