Canadian Forcstri/ Journal, December^ 1918 



1975 



which yet gFeater expansion of the 

 industry may be looked for, the 

 thinking economist must surely ask 

 how long the forests will resist the 

 onslaught. And he may perhaps 

 logically base an answer upon such a 

 statement as contained at the begin- 

 ning of this article: namely, that 

 in Ontario and Quebec there are 500 

 million cords of standing pulpwood — 

 an estimate that the writer has made 



after covering most of the forest 

 areas of the two provinces. 



On such a basis these forests could 

 be regarded as providing a perpetual 

 supply of pui])wood at a rate sufl'i- 

 cienL to operate all existing paper mills 

 mills in Canada and the United 

 States, r^ven at that the annual 

 increment would be less than one per 

 cent — a growth much below what is 

 possible by scientific forestry. 



Forestry and Imperial Safety 



Bij M. C. Ducycsne, F. S. I., London. 



I have emphasized the connection 

 between timber supplies and the 

 safety of the Realm. I would re- 

 mind you that with the comparatively 

 small trade in the time of our ances- 

 tors, there was then a good reserve 

 of timber in Great Britain. Never- 

 theless they fully appreciated the 

 importance of ensuring Oak reserves 

 for the British Navy and the safety 

 of the Realm. With our enormously 

 increased national turnover, is 

 not the importance of creating re- 

 serves here now extended to all the 

 varieties of timber so important to our 

 collieries and other national in- 

 dustries? The safety of the Realm 

 surely demands that forestry should 

 be encouraged by every section of 

 the community. 



Let me remind you of the scheme 

 for national afforestation outlined 

 in the Forestry Report. The benefits 

 to be derived from a comprehensive 

 scheme are too many to enumerate 

 and their value is beyond estimation. 

 What assessment could we place upon 

 the safety of the Realm; the revival 

 of rural life; robust country indus- 

 tries; Imperial development? These 

 things cannot be computed in money. 



And what of the cost of a scheme? 

 Let me give you a single fact. The 

 outbreak of war found us deficient 

 in reserves of timber. We had to buy 

 supplies from abroad, pay whatever 

 price was asked for them, and were 

 very fortunate to get them at all. 

 During only the first two years of 



he war the enhanced cost of im- 

 ported timber — over the pre-war 

 price — was 37 millions pounds ster- 

 ling. The figure represented by the 

 increased cost of imported timber 

 during this war will probably exceed 

 the total cost of any scheme of 

 afforestation. 



We hear of enormous siims freely 

 advocated for the nationalization 

 of public houses and other purpdses. 

 Many of these problems can be 

 solved by measures of reform on 

 broad lines or by reasonable restric- 

 tions imposed in the national in- 

 terest. I hope that the limited 

 funds available after the war will 

 be utilized mainly for financing- 

 remunerative schemes relating to 

 the development of our own country 

 and the Empire. 



PUBLIC FORESTS IN CANADA 



"The Globe," Toronto 



"A forest is not a thing that the 

 average Canadian capitalist cares to 

 tackle on any other basis than a 

 complete sweep of the standing tim- 

 ber. To provide the sort of forest 

 that will yield an annual crop in 

 perpetuity plans must be laid for 

 periods far longer than the life of a 

 single generation. That is why if we 

 are to have forests in Canada of the 

 sort that are to be found all over 

 Europe they must be civic, jirovin- 

 cial and national — controlled for the 

 public benefit by public authorities." 



