Canadian Forcslrij JournaL Man, ^'>^- 



111:1 



Shelter Belts and Farm Crops 



In order that soil may do its best 

 for the average farm crop it is neces- 

 sary that it contain about half of the 

 water that it is possible for it to hold. 

 When saturated a heavy clay soil will 

 hold 40 per cent, of water, and it is gen- 

 erally agreed that 18 per cent, of wa- 

 ter in soil is most favorable to plant 

 growth. A practical farmer needs no 

 measure or scales to tell himwhen his 

 land is in fit condition for sowing, but 

 many a one fails to attach sufficient 

 importance to the necessity for this 

 fit condition, and as a result much 

 good grain and other seed is sown in 

 mud that allowed it no chance of de- 

 veloping into satisfactory crop. 

 Managing Moisture 



The season of 1916 was proof of the 



fact that in the mattei- of command- 

 ing moisture supply, two points have 

 to be considered, namely, dispersion 

 and retention of moisture. To attain 

 both ends, drainage and mulching 

 have to be practiced, and it is a 

 question if anything more or better 

 than drainage can be made use of or 

 the removal of excess moisture from 

 the soil, but in the matter of retain- 

 ing moisture or supplying it th^re 

 are other means than cultivation of 

 the top soil, possible of being used: 

 irrigation is one of these, and another 

 not very often considered, is the pro- 

 vision of tree belts that will help to 

 retain a certain amount of moisture 

 in the atmosphere and so affect the 

 soil beneficially in times of drought. 



TTie Fire Pump in Timber Guarding 



— . — +, 



An impressive test of the improved 

 design of fire pump on which Mr. 

 Harry Johnson, Fire Inspector, Board 

 of Railway Commissioners, has done 

 such valuable work, was made at 

 Ottawa on May 9th before interested 

 spectators. 



The factor of portability has bulked 

 largest in Mr. Johnson's experiments 

 and, of course, has been the chief 

 barrier to the use of any of the exist- 

 ing types of pumps for extinguishing 

 fires in the forest. Last year a most 

 practical experiment was tried by the 

 St. Maurice Forest Protective Asso- 

 ciation at La Tuque, P.Q., where one 

 of the pumps did splendid service and 

 saved its cost on the single occasion. 



This year's design couples the en- 

 gine and pump direct, the carburetor 

 has been made more get-at-able, and 

 the general efficiency of the engine 

 improved. The test was conducted 

 by placing the pump five feet above 

 the level of the Ottawa River and 

 running 1500 feet of hose on an eighty- 



two foot rise to a point beneath the 

 Sparks Street bridge. With such 

 severe friction as was offered by the 

 length of hose and with the handicap 

 of the rise, the engine delivered 20 

 imperial gallons a minute at the 

 nozzle, throwing a stream that ap- 

 proximated thirty to forty feet. The 

 engine and pump w^eigh 132 pounds 

 and are being adopted in considerable 

 numbers by the Ontario forest service 

 and by private associations in Quebec. 



LAVAL MEN APPOINTED 



In the new Southern St. Lawrence 

 Forest Protective Association, Mr. 

 B. Guerin is District Fire Inspector of 

 the W'estern Division with head- 

 quarters at Quebec, while Mr. J. D. 

 Brule is Inspector of the Eastern 

 Division wdth headquarters at Camp- 

 bellton, New Brunswick. Both offi- 

 cials are graduates of the Laval 

 Forest School where they made a 

 record of distinction. 



