1870 



Canadian Forestry Journal, September, 1918 



3000 Million Seedlings to Replace 

 British Forests 



By M. C. Duchesne, F. S. I., Honorary Secretary 

 Royal English Arbor icultural Society. 



It is estimated that by the end 

 of this year probably one million 

 acres of our woods — representing one- 

 third of the total area — will have 

 been felled for the war emergency. If 

 this be so, and we estimate three 

 thousand trees per acre required for 

 replanting, this represents a supply 

 of three "thousand million seedhngs 



necessary for re-planting only the 

 area which will have been felled 

 during the war. These seedlings re- 

 quire three to four years in the nurs- 

 ery preparatory to planting in the 

 woods. The cost of re-planting will 

 be greatly increased if the areas are 

 left derelict too long before re-plant- 

 ing. 



Mays of Research and Crickets 



A problem brought to us several 

 years ago was to avoid the destruc- 

 tion of binder twine by crickets, 

 recounts the "Little Journal" of Cam- 

 bridge, Mass. The twine was per- 

 fectly good except for the fact that 

 as soon as it was put to use in the 

 harvest field the crickets straightway 

 destroyed it. Efforts had been made 

 to destroy the crickets but without 

 success, and do what they would, they 

 couldn't keep them out of the twine 

 as soon as it reached the stubble. It 

 was a matter of really grave import- 

 ance, and finally we were called upon 

 to undertake research in the matter. 

 The problem was given to a chemist 

 of unusually ripe scholarship. He 

 was joined by a competent entymolo- 

 gist and they proceeded to work in the 

 laborator\- with crickets imprisoned 

 in glass houses and, for months at a 

 time, in the harvest fields where 

 crickets live. Soon they reached 

 the conclusion that it was not twine 

 for which the insects had an insatiable 

 passion; it was their hatred of the 

 situation which followed the reapers 

 in the stubble. It appeared that 

 they bit into the twine possibly for 

 moisture which was dried out of the 

 wheat stalks, or for some other 

 nsectivorous reason consequent upon 



changed conditions. The solution lay 

 in discouraging the attacks, rather 

 than in killing the fiddlers after the 

 sheaves were loosened. Men of re- 

 search are out after results, not 

 revenge. The next step was to find 

 something that was more unpleasant 

 than lack of shade, more ofTensive 

 than drought, more horrid than thirst 

 from the crickets' standpoint. Re- 

 search and experiment finally proved 

 that a simple treatment of the twine 

 makes it, cricketally speaking, unen- 

 durable and thus were accomplished 

 great savings in wheat as well as 

 twine. The work took several sea- 

 sons with the checking up of each 

 promising laboratory experiment in 

 the open. Theory and practice must 

 go hand in hand. Moreover, re- 

 search means headwork, and some- 

 times field work. 



It is estimated that the sunflower 

 plant draws from the soil and exhales 

 in 12 hours 12 gallons of water. 



N.B.BUILDING TOWERS. 



The construction of observation 

 towers to be used in the fire fighting 

 system of New Brunswick will be 

 begun shortly. 



