1938 



Canadian Foiestrii Journal, November, 1918 



committees have given their reports, 

 but practically nothing has been 

 done. 



The present members of the Fores- 

 try Committee have approached the 

 problem in a very able and far-seeing 

 manner, and their suggested scheme 

 should have the active support of 

 every man and woman who has the 

 interests of the nation and the 

 Empire at heart. It is proposed in 

 the first ten years to afforest 200,000 

 acres of land at a cost of $3,425,000. 

 Of this area, 150,000 acres will be 

 planted by the State, and the remain- 

 der by pubhc bodies. Planting is to 

 continue steadilv for forty vears at a 

 cost to the State of $15,000,000. 

 By that time 1,180,000 acres will have 

 been planted, and the State forests 

 will be paying their own way. After 

 that will come the planting of a 

 further 590,000 acres, spread over 

 another forty years. 



The aim is to make the United 

 Kingdom self-supporting in timber, 

 so that it will not be necessary for us 

 to buy a single stock from abroad 

 for a period of three years, if the 

 emergency arises. 



We certainly canot do less,, and 

 there is no reason why, if the public 

 only realize the important part 

 forests play in the national life, 

 we should not do very much more. 

 We are spending on the war in two 

 days as much as the whole scheme 

 is going to cost us— and $15,000,000 

 seems a small sum when we recall 

 that in 1915-1916 we had to pay 

 $37,000,000 more for wood than we 

 would have paid in normal times, 

 simply because we were in a fix, and 

 were not self-supporting in timber. 



We have easily 5,000,000 acres we 

 could afforest — some authorities put 

 the figures much higher — and all 

 would grow fine pine, which is the 

 most important timber from a com- 

 mercial point of view. It is true that 

 much of this land is now used for 

 rough grazing, but if we planted 

 2,000,000 acres of it with trees, it 

 would have so little effect on our 

 cattle-raising, that where we grow 

 1,000 beasts now, we should still 

 be able to raise 995. In addition. 



we should have that glorious inde- 

 pendence and strength that adequate 

 State forests confer. 



Germany, through her foresight, 

 is producing from 50 to 90 cubic feet 

 of timber per acre every year from 

 her State forests, while our w^oodlands 

 give us only 15 cubic feet per acre 

 a year. It shows what State forests 

 properly managed, can achieve. We 

 can beat Germany in forestry if we 

 set our minds on it. 



From London. Magazine. 



NATURAL RESOURCES AFTER 

 WAR. 



At the annual meeting of the Mol- 

 son's Bank, the president, Mr. 

 William Molson Macpherson 



expressed the hope that as the end 

 of the war approached the govern- 

 ment would be as ready to remove 

 restrictions in the way of the regu- 

 lations of prices and other ways as 

 the public would be to be free from 

 them, and that "our statesmen in the 

 reconstruction period will show sound 

 judgment, tolerance and breadth of 

 view." 



Mr. Macpherson in expressing the 

 opinion that the war would be over 

 by the time of the next annual meet- 

 ing declared that the period of read- 

 justment would be awaited with some 

 anxiety. "We have, however, even>' 

 confidence that the exploitation of the 

 natural resources of the country will 

 enable us to return quickly to a 

 normal condition." 



"While the pulp and paper trade was 

 expanding very rapidly and Canada 

 was taking a leading position in these 

 industries, largely because of her 

 extensive natural advantages in water 

 powers and forests, the wood was 

 being used in such quantities that 

 the replenishing of the forests by 

 re-planting should engage the atten 

 tion of the Provincial Governments" 

 said Mr. Macpherson. In connec- 

 tion with the lumber industry he 

 stated that as a result of a scarcity of 

 labor in the woods this winter the out- 

 put, of lumber next year would show 

 a considerable decUne and would be 

 largely increased in cost. 



