Canadian Forcslrij Journal, September, 1918 



1885 



'The Child's Book of the Forests 



yy 



In conformity \vilh the Foreslrx 

 Association's plan to direct its educa- 

 tional work as much to children as to 

 adults, ten thousand copies of "The 

 Child's Book of the h^)rests" 

 (illustrated) have been printed for 

 free circulation in Ontario, and ten 

 thousand of a slightly different book 

 in French called "Petit Catechisme 

 de la foret." These will be made use 

 of by school leachers, clergy, etc., 

 and the main edition will reach the 

 children of forested regions through 

 the hre rangers. 



In the back of each booklet is a 

 pledge reading: T hereby pledge my- 

 self to do everything in my power to 

 prevent forest fires from starting,' 

 with blanks for three names, and the 

 address of the nearest fire ranger. 

 The latter space will, of course, be 

 filled in before distribution. 



Adult readers may be struck by 

 the very rudimentary cjuestions 

 asked and answered in the booklet, 

 but experiejice has shown that these 

 are the actual stumbling blocks on 

 which much ignorant prejudice 

 against forests, fire ranging, and 

 limit holders has been founded. 

 The "Child's book of the Forests" 

 was written by Mr. Black, Secretary 

 of the Forestry Association, and 

 reads as follows: 



Who Owns the Forests of Ontario? 



"The Government of the province 

 holds the right to almost every 

 piece of forest-covered land in Ont- 

 ario. Of course, if the Government 

 put a stone wall around its forests 

 and said to the people 'Keep Out,' 

 there would be no great pulp and 

 paper and lumber mills, no work in 

 the woods for your fathers and bro- 

 thers. In fact, the country would 

 have a very very difficult time to 

 get a decent living. So the Govern- 

 ment long ago rented to hundreds 

 of companies the right to use the 

 timber growing on the provincial 

 lands. In that way, the mills can 

 get a supply of logs and thousands of 

 men obtain profitable employment." 



What is The Government? 

 "Every four years the people of 

 Ontario hold an election and send to 

 the provincial legislature, 110 men 

 who arc pledged to manage the build- 

 ing of roads and public buildings, 

 the development of the forests, 

 mines, fisheries, water powers, etc., 

 the collection of certain taxes, ques- 

 tions of education and other impor- 

 tant matters. The Government acts 

 as General Manager of the Forests 

 and has a 'Forestry Branch' to help 

 carry out what the Government 

 thinks necessary. This 'Forestry 

 Branch' is of great value to the people. 

 It looks after large tracts of forest 

 that might easily burn down if a 

 patrol were not present, and it pro- 

 tects the lives of thousands of settlers 

 and their property." 



Who are the "Limit Holders?" 

 "They are men or companies 

 renting or 'leasing' the forests from 

 the Government. By no means have 

 they occupied all the forests in 

 Ontario; there are 70 million acres 

 not rented to ten million acres 

 rented. The moment the limit 

 holders start cutting down the timber 

 they pay a price called 'timber dues' 

 for every thousand feet of wood they 

 take. In this way, the Government 

 makes sure that the people of the 

 province shall get a fair share of the 

 money coming out of the public 

 properties. The money that the 

 Government obtains goes to build 

 the roads and put up new buildings, 

 help educate the children and do 

 many other useful things, as well as 

 guard the timberlands from fire." 



"The limit holder, however, does 

 not only pay the 'timber dues.' 

 He pays in addition an annual 

 tax on each scpiare mile for the em- 

 ployment of fire rangers and for fire 

 fighting. Then in most instances he 

 had to buy the 'limit' in the first 

 place either from the Government or 

 a private holder, so that a large sum 

 of money is actually invested in 

 every 'hmit.' Timber is not 'given 



