68 Forests and Trees 



of these districts are directly supervised by permanently 

 appointed chief fire rangers. The activity in connection 

 with the fire-ranging districts begins about the middle of 

 March or later and closes in October or November, accord- 

 ing to the season. In these districts are temporarily 

 appointed each year fire rangers and assistant fire rangers, 

 who are placed in charge of certain areas of patrol, and their 

 duty during the danger season is to cover the area com- 

 pletely, for the purpose of detecting and preventing the 

 spread of any fire which may occur. They are assisted in 

 the better 'organized districts by lookout towers and tele- 

 phone lines, which make it possible to detect fires at a 

 distance and to collect a gang of men at short notice as 

 soon as a fire is discovered. 



Fire-ranging on the railways is under the supervision of 

 a permanently appointed divisional fire inspector who 

 organizes the railway fire-ranging in the provinces of 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Railway fire 

 guardians are placed along the rights of way during the 

 danger season and are provided with either hand, pedal 

 or power speeders on which they travel up and down 

 the line on patrol beats assigned them. In this way we 

 have the co-operation of the railways, and, as a result, the 

 fire menace from them is being greatly reduced. 



The protection of forests from insects and disease is not 

 an easy matter. It is not possible by mechanical means, 

 such as spraying, either to prevent the coming of the pest 

 or to destroy it once it has come. 



The only practical way of controlling those insect pests 



