1300 



Canadian Forestry Journal, September, 1917 



Sheep and Goats As Tree Destroyers 



Some Canadian planters of forest 

 tree stock have had experiences with 

 depredations of goats, both amusing 

 and tragic. There is under way in 

 the United States at the present time 

 a discussion between the breeders of 

 sheep and goats with regard to their 

 availabihty as an agency to convert 

 brush-land into grass land. The 

 "Angora Journal" has the following 

 to say: 



"Sheep are a grass-feeding stock; 

 they will not eat brush unless forced 

 to do so by absence of other pastur- 

 age. They will browse on scant 

 pasture, leaving the hazel, willow, or 

 other bushes to grow unmolested if 

 any grass is to be had. On the other 

 hand, goats will leave grass to sheep 

 and cattle if any green tree or shrub 

 growth is available. They prefer it. 

 Sheep never stand upright on the 

 hind legs to browse; goats will browse 

 off the foliage and tender bark to a 

 height of six feet and even higher. 

 Forest officials have adopted goats 

 as a means of keeping fire-breaks 

 clear of underbrush. Goats are used 

 to do the pioneering ahead of other 

 live stock on new lands in many 

 Western States. 



"The prejudice against goats is 

 questionable. It has been created 

 by the inhabitant of the vacant city- 

 lot— a neglected creature that was 

 forced to get subsistence by any 

 means it could. It gnawed the labels 

 from tin cans to get the taste of the 

 paste beneath — and acquired a repu- 

 tation for eating tin cans. The goat 

 of the open fields and prosperous 

 farms is as different from the vacant- 

 lot or common type as is the Hereford 

 thoroughbred from the raw-boned 

 cow of the city suburbs. The goat 

 is the cleanest feeder of the live-stock 

 world. It will not eat straw or hay 

 that has been under foot. It nibbles 

 the choicest bits of foliage and rejects 

 all uncleanness. 



ONTARIO ! 



Ontario's timber production last 

 year valued at $26,774,937 or 40 per 

 cent, of Canada's total output. 

 Pine production, 905,442,000 ft. B.M. 

 Pulpwood, 246,282 cords. 



Railway Ties, 5,704,459. 



Ontario's woodworking industries, 

 using 34 different kinds of wood, pro- 

 vide a ready market for the lumber- 

 man. Eighty-two per cent, of lum- 

 ber used in Ontario's industries is 

 purchased within the Province. 



COUNT OVER SURVIVORS 



Mr. William Kilby, formerly of 

 the Canadian Northern fire protec- 

 tion service at Winnipeg, is now with 

 the Royal Flying Corps in France, 

 ht s already been sent up as an ob- 

 server and will qualify for his com- 

 mission in a month or two. Writing 

 to a friend, Mr. Kilby remarks: 

 "We'll have to have a general pow- 

 wow of foresters and kindred souls 

 after the war to kind of count over 

 the survivors " 



SAND BAGS OF PAPER 



Mr. H. R. Christie, formerly of 

 the British Columbia Forest Service 

 has sent to an Ottawa friend a sample 

 of the German sand bags made en- 

 tirely of paper fibres. In appear- 

 ance the article somewhat resembles 

 a coarse brown linen bag but is 

 smoother in finish, each strand being 

 tightly rolled and woven with great 

 exactness. Mr. Christie states that 

 the bags are very serviceable except 

 when exposed to moisture, when they 

 rot. The Germans, he reports, do 

 not use nearly as many sand bags 

 as the British and French, for the 

 reason that they have more timber 

 at their disposal and make prolific 

 use of it. 



