960 



Canadian Forestry Journal, February, 1917 



to S514.00 per M. for the round log. 

 On spruce it was found necessary to 

 reduce the length and diameter limit 

 from 18 ft. by 10 in. to 16 ft. by 9 in. 

 Thousands of acres of good timber 

 land have been taken up under the pre- 

 tense of agricultural development, only 

 to be abandoned after desultory at- 

 tempts at clearing and cultivating, and 

 after the occupant had burned, pos- 

 sibly^ thousands of acres of good tim- 

 ber; these signs of the gradual deple- 

 tion of forest land led to a movement 

 for definite knowledge of the condi- 

 tion of the public domain, and a 

 classification of the land as to whe- 

 ther it was chiefly suitable for farm 

 or timber. 



Foundations of Agriculture. 



Perhaps one of the most important 

 features of the survey is the classifica- 

 tion and delineation of the agricultur- 

 al lands, the objects being to direct 

 future settlement to localities where 

 there is the greatest opportunity for 

 successful farming, and to prevent 

 the denuding of purely timber land 

 under the guise of clearing for agri- 

 cultural purposes. 



The success or failure of any agri- 

 cultural community depends on four 

 factors : 



1st, Climate; 2nd, Soil; 3rd, Per- 

 sonal; 4th, Social. We shall con- 

 sider the first and second in more 

 detail: Climate — The climate in 

 New Brunswick is generally favor- 

 able to agricultural pursuits; the 

 winters, though long and severe, are 

 followed by warm, pleasant summers 

 with plenty of rainfall; vegetation 

 showing a remarkably fast develop- 

 ment, although late spring and early 

 fall frost limits the range of field 

 crops to those developing and matur- 

 ing in a little over three months. 



Soil — The soil is the factor with 

 which this survey is chiefly concern- 

 ed, and is, next to climate, the most 

 important in limiting agricultural de- 

 velopment. In the classification of 

 soils on an agricultural basis two 

 primary things have to be considered. 



1st, Topographical Character. 



Soil on gentle slopes or up to a sus- 

 tained slope of eight to ten per cent, 

 is tillable; slopes to fifteen or twenty 



per cent, are suitable for grazing. 

 Steeper slopes, soils broken by ledges 

 or boulders are unsuitable for any 

 agricultural development. 



2nd, Physical Character of the 

 Soil. 



The physical character of the soil 

 determines its moisture and fertility 

 holding capacity, as well as to a large 

 extent the cost of bringing area under 

 crop, and it is more important than 

 soil fertility, because fertility may 

 be increased or destroyed by the 

 manner in which the clearing and 

 cropping is done, but the texture of 

 the soil cannot be changed. 



We have divided our soil into five 

 types on this physical basis. They 

 are: clays, clay loams, sandy loams, 

 sand soils and swamp soils. 



Roughly speaking, therefore (re- 

 ferring to our soil maps), clay loam, 

 clay soils and sandy loams can be 

 classified as agricultural land, unless 

 there are excessive quantities of sur- 

 face or sub-surface tone (shown by 

 hatching), or the cost of drainage is 

 excessive. 



Value of The Survey. 



Just a word as to the use the in- 

 formation gathered will be to the 

 department in the future manage- 

 ment of the Crown Lands. 



1st, It gives definite information of 

 the quantity, quality and value of 

 the timber on any area, from which 

 a very close appraisal of the stump- 

 age can be ascertained: will show 

 whether the Department is receiving 

 full value for the lumber cut or not, 

 and they can adjust their stumpage 

 rates accordingly. 



It will show the cjuantity and qual- 

 ity of species now of little importance 

 because of lack" of market demand, 

 and it is hoped that we will be able 

 either to show that these species can 

 be marketed profitably, or to induce 

 industries utilizing these inferior spec- 

 ies, where the quantity justifies it, 

 to locate within the province, thus 

 profitably utilizing material which 

 is at present going to waste. 



Mr, W. B. Campbell, B.Sc, of the 

 Forest Products Laboratories of Can- 

 ada, Montreal, was some time ago 



