Canadian Forestry Journal, Auyusl, 1918 



1825 



Watching Engine Equipment 

 Another valuable development is 

 the granting of authority, by the 

 Government Railways management 

 for the Quebec Forest Service to 

 inspect fire protective appliances on 

 their engines operating in forest 

 sections in that province. The For- 

 est Service has a special inspector for 

 this line of work, who will now divide 

 his time between the Government 

 Railways in Quebec and the lines of 

 railway subject to the jurisdiction 

 of the Railway Commission, as well 

 as lines holding provincial charters. 

 This outside inspection has been 

 found by experience in Quebec and 

 elsewhere to be of very great value 

 in preventing the occurrence of fires 

 due to railway couses. 



The Government Railways man- 

 agement is also co-operating with the 

 St. Maurice and Southern St. Law- 



rence Forest Productive Associations 

 in maintaining a special fire patrol 

 through forest sections between Par- 

 ent and Quebec, and between Quebec 

 and the New Brunswick boundary, 

 respectively. 



For right of way clearing to reduce 

 the fire hazard, the Government 

 Railways have employed an extra 

 gang of 22 Indians to cut brush and 

 dispose of inflammable debris between 

 Parent and La Tuque. Labor is so 

 scarce in that district that the hiring 

 of the Indians was the only way to 

 get the work done. 



These developments, taken in con- 

 nection with those of a similar char- 

 acter in New Brunswick and Ontario, 

 show conclusively that the Govern- 

 ment Railways Management is taking 

 a much more active interst in forest 

 fire protection than was ever the case 

 in previous years. 



The Forest Possessions of Spain 



The Forest Possessions of Spain. 



According to the data obtained for the year 1913-1914, the forests de- 

 clared of public utility, w'hich depend on the Ministry of the "Fomento," 

 cover in Spain and the neighbouring islands an area of 11,886,349 acres, 

 29,888 acres less than in the year 1912-1913 due to a rectification of the boun- 

 daries. These figures include 609,379 acres (i.e., a little more than 5% 

 belonging to the State, 11,261,746 acres belonging to communes, and 15,224 

 acres belonging to other public bodies. 



Of the total area, 1,020,304 acres (i.e., 8% of the acreage of public forests) 

 are being divided up for cutting and 288,891 acres of mountain land are being 

 regenerated and replanted. 



The various kinds of trees found in the forests are distributed as follows: 

 5,263,223 acres of full-grow^n pine, oak and beech; 3,088,860 acres of brushw^ood 

 and pasture land. The income from these forests is estimated at $412,247 

 (at par). 



The forests, with fertile lands, are the great pillar of Canada's commercial 

 existence. If the Kaiser can witness the ruin of our national foundations by 

 our own indifference, why should he go to the expense of employing secret 

 propagandists and T.N.T. kulturists? "Forest Conservation in Canada," 

 says the British Reconstruction Committee, "is an Imperial question of the 

 first magnitude which deserres immediate attention" ; for Canada now holds 

 the Empire's only timber supply. 



It is clearly up to Canadians themselves to make this problem their 

 personal concern. The growth of conservation sentiment is outside the zone 

 of Government action. It cannot be done by "passing a law." Each Cana- 

 dian must pass his own law. 



