Canadian Forest rij Journal, November, 1917 



1383 



settler and has been eminently sue- Of merchantable timber, the loss 



cessfiil. was 287 acres; youni,' £,'rowth 216 



The fire losses on the St. Maurice acres; cut over lands 2272 acres; old 



Association's territory this year have burn 1592 acres. Total 4367 acres, 



been kept down to a very gratifying or a little less than 61 square 



point. miles. 



Canada's Debit Account for Forest Fires 



Forest fires in Canada since Con- 

 federation have destroyed vastlij more 

 of the nation's wealth than all other 

 kinds of fires put together. 



The fire losses paid by insurance 

 companies in Canada since 1867 am- 

 ounted to $272,250,777. The actual 

 property loss is ascertainable at about 

 25 per cent, over the foregoing figure. 

 This refers to ordinary property, 

 houses, contents, factories, etc., and 

 includes practically no standing tim- 

 ber which only in rare instances is 

 insurable and that only during the 

 past few Vycars. 



It has been generally accepted as 

 a modest estimate that for every foot 

 of timber ever cut in Canada, seven 

 have been destroyed by fire. 



Placing government stumpage dues 

 at the very low rate of 50 cents a 

 thousand feet it is not unreasonable 

 to assume that the public revenues 

 have suffered by scores of millions 

 of dollars. It may not be fair to 

 accept such a total as a thousand 

 million dollars, as does the Montreal 

 "Financial Times," because Govern- 

 ment dues would not have been col- 

 lected by any means on all the timber 

 that has gone up in smoke, although 

 every square mile of public-owned 

 forest must be regarded as possessing 

 potential public revenues. If one 

 considers the actual and potential 

 sources of gain to the Government 

 treasuries, probably a billion dollars 

 is not extreme as the total of the 

 penalty visited upon the Canadian 

 people through forest fires. 



of timber berths by the Department 

 of Indian affairs: 



"Half of the cost of adequate fire 

 guardianship will be a charge against 

 the licensee, and the safe disposal 

 of brush, tree-tops and other debris 

 resulting from the lumbering opera- 

 tions must be arranged for under the 

 supervision of the Department." 



The provision regarding brush dis- 

 posal is being carried out with com- 

 mendable care and is said to have 

 met with willing cooperation from 

 the licensees. 





CLEANING UP DEBRIS 



The following appears in recent 

 advertisements of an auction sale 



SEEK BETTER METHODS ■ 



The British Columbia Log- 

 gers' Association is a helpful 

 organization. The latest work 

 undertaken for its members is 

 the inauguration of a department 

 which undertakes to teach the 

 foremen and buckers how to cut 

 the logs to the best advantage. 

 In carrying out this work the ser- 

 vices of A. L. Bryant, formerly 

 supervisor of scalers, has been 

 secured. His duties will be to 

 visit the logging camps of the 

 members and check up the sys- 

 tem of cutting the logs, pointing 

 out if necessary where the logs 

 can be cut to the best advantage, 

 considering both taper and grad- 

 ing. The fir, cedar and spruce 

 logs are graded into three classes. 

 It is the intention perhaps next 

 spring to purchase a motor-boat 

 for this service, thus making the 



I inspector independent of the reg- 



f ular boat service. 



