1970 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1918 



the various Provinces there have been 

 more or less successful beginnings 

 along this line, and in some cities 

 like ^ Toronto and Montreal some 

 creditable institutions have been 

 developed. 



It is not intended in any way that 

 the Dominion Government shall at- 

 tem.pt to compete ^vith or supplant 

 these, or even supplement them, 

 because the thorny question of Pro- 



vincial rights always crops up when- 

 ever the Government devises a policy 

 with regard to road construction, 

 education or anything of the sort. 

 In this case it is expected that the 

 legislation will take the form of pro- 

 viding a sum of money to he divided 

 among the Provinces on the basis 

 of population and the progress al- 

 ready made in the direction of tech- 

 nical education. 



Hydroaeroplane for Forest Protection 



By Hy. Sorgius, Manager, St. Maurice Forest Protective Ass'n, Quebec. 



Although only conversant in a 

 general way ^^ith reference to the 

 possible application of the hydro- 

 aeroplane to forest protection, I 

 am of the opinion that this machine 

 will in the future be a valuable feature 

 in forest protection work, both for 

 the locating and reporting of forest 

 fires. In other words we may call 

 it "a moving observation tower." 



The directors of the St. Maurice 

 Forest Protective Association, at a 

 meeting held on November 15, agreed 

 to purchase a hydroaeroplane for 

 the patrolling of our area beginning 

 next spring, ^^'e have already cor- 

 responded with the Canadian manu- 

 facturers, asking them if they could 

 build us a machine which would suit 

 our purpose. 



The advantages in the hydro- 

 aeroplane patrol, in my opinion, 

 would principally be the locating 

 and rei)orting of forest fires, and also 

 in the rapid transportation of a small 

 crew of men and equipment to the 

 fire. The main feature in forest 

 protection is prevention; secondly, 

 to get at a fire when it is in its infancy, 

 and we believe that, with the use of 

 a hydroaeroplane, we will be able to 

 detect and reach almost every forest 

 lire before it has a chance to make 

 any headway. In a country like 

 ours there are large areas where, 

 should a forest fire start it would 

 take from a couple of days to a week 

 to get the necessary help and equip- 

 ment to the scene of the blaze. Dur- 



ing all this time the flames are burn- 

 ing large areas of valuable timber, 

 but with the use of the hydroaero- 

 plane we shall be in a position to get 

 men and equipment to the fire in a 

 short time, thereby giving the men 

 a good chance to extinguish same. 



The State of Wisconsin had the 

 hydroaeroplane patrol for one year 

 and the Commission of Conservation 

 is so greatly taken up with the 

 efficiency of such a patrol that it is 

 the intention to establish a perman- 

 ent aeroplane patrol throughout 

 Wisconsin, now that the war is over. 



I may say that it is the opinion of 

 our members that the hydroaeroplane 

 is of great value for forest protection 

 work and that it will be economical 

 and satisfactory. Whether or not 

 this will prove practical in our work, 

 we are going right ahead with the 

 establishment of the same for next 

 spring. 



The Laurentide Co. has, in its for- 

 est nurseries near Grandmere, Que., 

 nearly 4,000,000 seedlings of differ- 

 ent ages, to be used in planting opera- 

 tions between 1919 and 1921. These 

 will be supplemented by purchases 

 from other nurseries, until the capa- 

 city of the Grandmere nurseries can 

 be ncreased to cover the entire 

 planting programme of the company. 

 The company's forester, Mr. EUwood 

 Wilson, reports that the cost of 

 planting, usually with 3-year-old seed- 

 lings, is from $9 to $10 per acre. 



