1842 Canadian Forestry Journal, August, 1918 



Hooverizing Tree Materials in England 



How waste is cut to an almost irre- 

 diicablc minimum in the operations 

 of the Canadian Forestry Corps in 

 Great Britain and P'rance is shown 

 in the following report on the work 

 of the corps received from overseas. 



Every native Canadian of mature 

 years has, in youth and after, ob- 

 served the timber operations which 

 form a striking part of the industrial 

 life of Canada. 



Everyone knows how the slabs 

 were used for firewood and the saw- 

 dust scattered regardless over acres 

 and acres of ground. With this 

 knowledge to work on, one is in a 

 position to intelligently appreciate 

 the splendid work being done by 

 the Canadian Forestry Corps in 

 Great Britain and France. Econ- 

 omy and efficiency are characters- 

 tic of the Forestry Corps in a far 

 greater measure than 's generally 

 realized in Canada. We are in the 

 midst of the greatest war of all time. 

 Working under the necessity of turn- 

 ing out huge quantities of material 

 it might reasonably be ex- 

 pected that economy would go by 

 the board in the hurried rush for 

 production. This has not been the 

 case. In spite of the imperative 

 necessity for speed, the Canadian 

 Forestry Corps are conserving ma- 

 terial in a manner only practiced 

 by the most modern peace-time mills 

 in Canada. 



Vse Even the Bark. 



In these military operations slabs 

 are being cut into lumber until 

 practically only the bark remains, 

 and where practicable that is being 

 used for tanning and in the produc- 

 tion of wood alcohol used in manu- 

 facturing explosives. Short pieces 

 and narrow pieces are sent to box 

 factories to be made into boxes for 

 munitions of war. The sawdust is 

 the only fuel used to raise steam 

 which provides power for driving 

 machinery of the mill; the residue 

 is used instead of straw for bedding 



horses. In fact, as already stated' 

 all that remains of the original log 

 is the bark, and it is seen that where 

 feasible, even that is not wasted. 



Men at Base Employed 



With reference to the conserva- 

 tion and use of man-power, the sarfte 

 considerations hold good. A very 

 good illustration of economy in tim- 

 ber, working in close relation with 

 economy in man-power, is found 

 at the Base Depot, Sunningdale. 

 Here, timber which has passed ma- 

 turity and has commenced to deterior- 

 ate, both as to beauty and utility, is 

 being thinned out of the royal forest. 

 This timber is saved by men who 

 would otherwise be temporarily un- 

 employed. For the base depot is a 

 clearing house for the personnel of 

 the corps. On arrival from Canada, 

 men are held at the base depot, in 

 quarantine, for two or more weeks. 

 It is sometimes necessary to keep 

 them for a longer period to complete 

 their training. Men transferring 

 from a unit which has completed its 

 operations on one area, are sometimes 

 held at the base depot for a short 

 period. In various circumstances 

 men are temporarily unemployed 

 awaiting despatch to their units. 

 These men are kept usefuUv emplov- 

 ed. 



Need Expert Surplus 



Every employer of labor under- 

 stands the necessity of keeping cer- 

 tain surplus labor to provide against 

 the stoppage of machinery through 

 exigences of operation. In private 

 business the labor exchanges keep 

 surplus labor tabulated so that re- 

 quirements can be met and vacan- 

 cies filled with the minimum loss of 

 time. The base depot does this for 

 the Forestry Corps. The fact that 

 the men are mostly highly qualified 

 experts, who can only be secured 

 in Canada, which is 3,000 miles 

 distant, makes the necessity of this 

 arrangement abvious. 



