CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 103 



This work Was in many places difficult of accomplishment. It was about 

 thirty years since the lines had been surveyed and some of them having 

 been burned over, the wooden posts had been destroyed and the mounds 

 almost obliterated. People familiar with the West know, also, that mos- 

 quitoes and flies are numerous and troublesome in the summer months. As 

 it is the intention to have the boundary line a road from which fire can be 

 fought, it was cut out from six to eight feet wide. 



Much more of this work would have been done if the rangers could have 

 begun early in the spring. But during the early part of the summer they 

 were all busy with the removal of squatters. 



FOREST SURVEYS. 



In order that the Department may have a thorough knowledge of the 

 reserves and become able to form judgment as to how the tree growth thereon 

 should be managed, a timber and topographic survey is being conducted. 

 Last summer Assistant Inspector MacMillan with a party of five forestry 

 students conducted such survey of the Pines Reserve. Assistant Inspector 

 Dickson did similar work with a party of thirteen in the Riding Mountains. 

 It is the intention to have four such parties on the reserves next summer. 

 This survey serves a double good purpose. It gives the Department the 

 knowledge it desires and gives the students the practical side of their forestry 

 course. 



The timber survey makes a thorough study of the tree growth. It gives 

 the areas covered with mature timber and with younger timber and states 

 the quantity of each. It considers the accretion and the reproduction of 

 timber in the forest and discovers means for their encouragement in quan- 

 tity and quality. It examines areas having no tree growth, and recommends 

 methods by which they may be afforested. It studies the effect of past man- 

 agement upon the forest, and advises improvements for the future. It sug- 

 gests means by which dansrers to the forest from fire, storms, fungi and 

 insects may be reduced. It investigates the utilization of the forest, and 

 seeks new uses for forest products. 



The topographic survey describes the hills and valleys, the lakes, 

 streams and trails. It studies the best routes for the removal of the mature 

 timber and locates trails for protecting the forest against fire. 



KINDS OF TIMBER. 



The following species of trees exist in commercial quantity on the forest 

 reserves : 



Poplar (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and Balm of Gilead (Populus bal- 

 sa-mi f era Linn.) exist on all reserves east of the Rockies. Poplar reaches a 

 maximum size of 32 inches at breast height. Fifteen inches, however, is 

 the largest common size for sound trees. Balm of Gilead reaches a maximum 

 of 34 inches, with a common large size, sound, of 18 inches. 



White Spruce (Picea canaden.ns [Mill.] B.S.P.) and Black Spruce (Picea 

 mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) exist on all reserves east of the Rockies except Turtle 

 Mountain, Moose Mountain, Beaver Hills, Cooking Lake, Elk Island and 

 Buffalo Park reserves. Maximum 48 inches; common large, sound, 18 inches. 



Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmanni Engelm.) exists on the Kooteiiay 

 Lakes, Jasper Park, Rocky Mountain Park and all British Columbia reserves. 

 Maximum 30 inches; common large, sound, 16 inches. 



