102 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 



rodents or insects; but in the long grass every species germinated, and just 

 before snow-fall the trees were alive and looking well. 



It is intended to carry on a variety of such experiments next summer. 

 For this purpose the forest ranger on the Spruce Woods Reserve collected 

 last fall 40 bushels of Spruce cones, the ranger on the Cypress Hills 40 

 bushels of Lodgepole Pine, and a party of foresters working on the Pines 

 Reserve 50 bushels of Jack Pine. These are the species with which we hope 

 to achieve success, as they are the ones likely to prove hardy. 



We shall do our best to win along this line, because the method of rais- 

 ing trees in nurseries until they are three or four years old and then setting 

 them out into the field is far too slow and too expensive a method to count 

 much towards meeting the demand for wood that will develop on this con- 

 tinent during the next hundred years. The nursery method is simply gard- 

 ening. It is a good method for the farmer's wood-lot. Foresters should, 

 however, seek for a method commensurate to the needs of the Government 

 lands. In the meantime, however, we are not despising the gardening 

 method even on the reserves. We may be forced to use it, and next spring 

 we shall start some seed beds, lii fact 35,000 trees have already been planted 

 on the Spruce Woods Reserve, from stock raised at the Forestry Farm at 

 Indian Head. 



REMOVAL OF SQUATTERS. 



A large number of people, mostly foreigners, had located and started 

 farming operations upon the .reserves, expecting some time in some way, 

 political or otherwise, they would be permitted to make entry for the places 

 they occupied. The Department determined upon their removal. They 

 numbered one hundred and twenty-six on the Riding Mountain, and twen- 

 ty-five on the Turtle Mountain Reserve. The task of removing these people 

 was a delicate one and required great judgment and courage on the part of 

 the forest rangers. The chief ranger of the Riding Mountains, W. A. Davis, 

 devoted the entire summer to the work. All the squatters have been removed 

 except three on the Riding Mountains and two on the Turtle Mountains. 

 These remaining ones will move early next spring. 



In this work the Department followed a lenient policy. The squatters 

 were taken to look over lands in wagons furnished to them free of charge. 

 They got free entry for the lands they selected, and they received compensa- 

 tion for improvements they had on the forest reserves. The total cost of 

 removing all these people was only |6.000. They have all made affidavits 

 stating that they have been well treated and are ( pleased with the change. 



MARKING RESERVE BOUNDARIES. 



In order that the public may not unintentionally trespass upon the forest 

 reserves, thinking themselves on private property, or on other Dominion 

 lands, the Department began last year to mark the boundaries with iron 

 posts. These are three-cornered and hence differ in shape from the regular 

 Dominion survey posts. They are marked with the letters "D. F. R." 

 (Dominion Forest Reserve) and the part that projects out of the ground is 

 painted red so that it will be readily observable, summer and winter. 



Considerable work Was done in this direction last year. Mr. David 

 Beatty, a Dominion Land Surveyor, was at work with a party of men on the 

 unsuryeyed portion of the boundary of the Porcupine Reserve and ran fifty- 

 one miles of the line. The forest rangers are working on the boundaries that 

 have been surveyed and have located 140 miles. 



