1306 



Canadian Forestry Journal, September, 1917 



The pulp wood belt as estimated 

 below begins at Split Lake and ex- 

 tends to The Pas, ten miles in width 

 on each side of the way proposed for 

 route of Hudson Bay Railway. On 

 this area, assuming one-sixth to be 

 covered by pulpwood, the balance 

 being river, lakes, ponds, swamps, 

 etc., and assuming 10 cords per acre 

 of an average of 6 inches in diameter, 

 there would be 5,756,660 cords. This 

 is a verv low but safe estimate." 



In 1910 Mr. J. R. Dickson, Dom- 

 inion Forestry Branch, made an 

 inspection of timber along the line of 

 the proposed Hudson Bay Railway 

 from The Pas to Split Lake. He 

 covered a distance of some 235 miles 

 along the line of railway. Mr. Dick- 

 son deplores the ravages made by 

 fires in the past, but points out that a 

 great deal of new growth will soon be 

 suitable for pulpwood. He intimates 

 that if general drainage conditions 

 could in some way be improved so as 

 to partially replace the black spruce 

 with the white spruce the wealth 

 producing power of the region would 

 be immeasurably greater. 



Mr. .J. A. J. McKenna concludes 

 each section of his report on the 

 Hudson Bay route with a recapitula- 

 tion or summary from which are 

 taken the following: 



'Tt would seem that after the 

 Saskatchewan is spanned at The Pas, 

 construction of a line of railway to 

 Churchill would not be unusually 

 difficult or expensive, and from re- 

 ports it would appear there aire in the 

 intervening country stretches of fair 

 timber. The country about the Bay 

 has only been glanced at by explorers. 

 Merchantable timber has been seen 

 and vast stretches of pulpwood." 



LAWSUIT ON TREE VALUES 



An interesting lawsuit has arisen 

 from the burning over of a portion 

 of the State Forest in Elk county, 

 Pennsylvania, by a fire which was 

 undoubtedly caused by sparks from 

 a locomotive. The land burned over 

 was covered with very young trees 

 of little value at the time of the fire — 

 but of large prospective value. The 

 Department of Forestry claims dam- 

 ages on the basis of the value of the 



trees 60 years hence, when they would 

 have been mature, discounted to the 

 present at 3 per cent, interest. The 

 railroad company insists on 5 per 

 cent., which would make the bill 

 considerably lower. 



" 'UP-GO' OF LUMBER COSTS" 



The Hardwood Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation has issued a little folder 

 showing the comparative increase in 

 cost of different articles. 



Costs. 



Percentage 



of increase 



Logs, bo't. on mkt. 31 



Stumpagc 100 



Labor ' 20 



Horse and mules... 40 



Oxen 41 



Feed 76 



Steel rails 9.3 



Railroad supplies.. 88 



Wire rope 91 



Manila rope 103 



Machinery 60 



Oil '. 29 



Percentage 

 of increase 



Saws 52 



Planer knives 160 



Belts 96 



Packing 32 



Files 101 



Emery wheels 54 



Mill supplies 58 



Coal 137 



Freight rates 8 



Stationery 63 



Federal taxes 100 



Lumber 12 



NEW ISSUES AVAILABLE TO ALL 

 MEMBERS! 



The Canadian Forestry Asso- 

 ciation will have ready for 

 distribution in the near fut- 

 ure two special illustrated 

 pamphlets. One deals with, 

 "What Ownership of the For- 

 ests in Manitoba, Saskatchewan 

 and Alberta really means!" and 

 sheds some statistical light on 

 the agitation for "provincial 

 ownership" ; the second pamphlet 

 undertakes to make clear the 

 present situation in New Bruns- 

 wick and to impress the need for 

 a reconsideration of the Govern- 

 ment's method of managing the 

 Crown forests. Ten thousand 

 copies of the first mentioned 

 pamphlet will be given careful 

 distribution throughout the West, 

 and five thousand copies of the 

 New Brunswick issue will - be 

 available for propagandist work 

 in that province. 



Balsa wood, found in Central 

 America, is said to be the lightest 

 known wood. It is lighter than cork, 

 and has an average specific gravity of 

 only .104. 



