2 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



vested in the canal, was considerable. It was, therefore, decided to 

 make a survey of the entire watershed north of the Kawartha lakes, 

 or of at least as much as could be done in one season. By carefid 

 planning and diligent application, on the part of the field party, it was 

 possible to accomplish the necessary field work for all of the water- 

 shed covered by this report, consisting of 2,100 square miles, during the 

 summer of 191 2, although the travel by foot in connection with 

 the survey amounted to not less than 4200 miles. 



The writer was charged with organizing the survey and laying 

 out the plans of procedure. The party, consisting of Dr. CD. Howe 

 and Mr. J. H. White, both of the Faculty of Forestry, University of 

 Toronto, and three student assistants, Messrs. Christie, McVickar 

 and Watt, started in May, 19 12, and, by the middle of September, the 

 survey in the field was finished. 



Reasons for the Survey 



It may be desirable at the outset to enlarge somewhat on the 

 reasons for selecting this particular area and to indicate what par- 

 ticular interest attaches to it. As stated, this area is illustrative of 

 conditions prevailing over a very large territory of mismanaged lands, 

 for which it is desirable to formulate a policy of reconstruction and 

 recuperation. In addition to this, however, the fact that the water- 

 way and waterpowers developed in the Trent canal draw their supjjly 

 from this watershed lends more significance to this territory than 

 to others. 



Value of the Canal — The Trent Canal project has been a subject 

 of public criticism and often of ridicule, ever since it was conceived, 

 85 years ago. The criticism and ridicule are not, however, deserved 

 by the original project but only by the irrational, slow manner in 

 which it was executed. The canal project, in fact, has been sub jected 

 to precisely the same kind of mismanagement as the territory through 

 which it passes. The chief value of a canal lies in connecting 

 markets and resources, and, therefore, depends mainly on its outlets. 

 The first outlet of the canal, the one into lake Ontario, is now, after 

 nearly a century of dilatory work, being completed ; the other, which 

 affords access to Georgian bay, stiU hangs fire. So long as the out- 

 lets to larger markets or for through-trafiic were lacking, only a very 

 limited local traffic could develop. Since the canal does not pass 

 through agricultural coimtry, and, since the principal resource of the 

 region it serves was timber — a staple which needs more than local 

 markets for a profitable and rational development — the value of the 

 incomplete canal was limited indeed. Since this outlet was unavailable, 

 the timber, owing to the expense of transportation to market, was cut 

 in a more or less wasteful manner. As a result, the government derived 



