24 



Canadian Forestry Journal, February, 1914 



of the Association. The number of new 

 members avIio joined was 482, and of old 

 members ^Yho died, resigned or lapsed, 269, 

 leaving a net gain of 213 and a total mem- 

 bership of 3,034. As a number of these 

 were in arrears for fees, and as the list 

 is now closely checked, the number will be 

 considerably reduced at the first revision in 

 1914. The number of life members was 

 1.58. 



The Association had to mourn the loss 

 of Mr. Herbert M. Price, of Quebec, a 

 Director for several years, and President 

 in 1908. Mr. Price always took the keenest 

 interest in the work and has been greatly 

 missed by the Directors. While Hon. John 

 Sharpies and Mr. E. Harcourt Smith, both 

 also of Quebec, were not Directors, their 

 high position in the lumbering world and 

 the fact that both of them were partners 

 of Mr. William Power, M.P., our Yice- 

 President, caused their deaths to be felt 

 as a distinct loss to the Association. 



The Federal Government and the Gov- 

 ernments of Ontario, Quebec, British Colum- 

 bia and New Brunswick have continued 

 their grants, while several of the banks and 

 lumber companies have also subscribed for 

 a number of their officers. 



Looking over the general field it is seen 

 that the work of forest protection and re- 

 forestry has made steady, if not rapid, 

 gains in 1913. The amount appropriated 

 by the Dominion Government for the work 

 of the Dominion Forestry Branch was $541,- 

 000, and the work was carried on with an 

 increased staff, particularly in the field, the 

 number of men in the outside service being 

 360, of whom 25 were technically trained. 

 The Avork of patrolling and trail and tele- 

 phone building was more extensively carried 

 on than ever before, and it is satisfactory to 

 note that the fire loss was the smallest 

 in the history of the Department, the 

 amount burned over being only one-fiftieth 

 of one per cent of the reserve area, of 

 which only fifty acres was mature timber. 

 Over ten thousand square miles have been 

 added to the reserves in the prairie pro- 

 vinces and the Eailway Belt in British 

 Columbia. The area in the reserves in the 

 different provinces is now: Manitoba, 4,108 

 square miles; Saskatchewan, 1.803 square 

 miles; Alberta, 26,271 square miles; British 

 Columbia, 3,782 square miles. Alberta has 

 the first place because of the immense Eocky 

 Mountains Forest Eeserve covering the 

 eastern slope from the International Boun- 

 dary to the Peace Eiver country. 



The regulations permitting the grazing of 

 stock on the forest reserves have been re- 

 vised. This will increase the usefulurj-s of 

 the reserves and make them more popular 

 with settlers, while at the same time the 

 forest growth will not be impaired. 



The work of tree planting on prairie 



farms is increasing. Last year over 3,- 

 500,000 trees were sent out to farmers from 

 the Indian Head Nursery Station, and the 

 Dominion Forest Branch has established a 

 new nursery near Saskatoon to keep up with 

 the demand. 



For several years by resolution and depu- 

 tation this Association pressed on the Do- 

 minion Government the need of establishing 

 a forest products laboratory. Your Direc- 

 tors are now happy to state that this end 

 has been attained, and that a laboratory 

 under the Dominion Forestry Branch has 

 been established in one of the buildings of 

 McGill University, Montreal. This, it is 

 believed, marks the starting of a most valu- 

 able aid to the highest utilization of our 

 forests, and the enterprise of the Govern- 

 ment and of the Minister of the Interior 

 is to be commended. 



In Ontario the Government spent on for- 

 est protection and development, according 

 to figures given by Hon. W. H. Hearst, 

 Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines, 

 $234,000, and the limit holders $91,000, 

 making a total of $325,000. This was spent 

 chiefly in patrol work, 925 men being em- 

 ployed, 560 by the Government and 365 

 by the limit holders. The work of sending 

 out trees to farmers and planting up sand 

 lands in Norfolk county was enlarged. 



The amount appropriated for forest ad- 

 ministration in Quebec was $100,000 and 

 $18,000 additional for the fire protective 

 branch. It is estimated that the limit hold- 

 ers spent $150,000 for their share of pro- 

 tection. The St. Maurice Valley Protective 

 Association carried through another success- 

 ful year in protecting the seven million 

 acres of forest in that district. Your Direc- 

 tors express the hope that this co-opera- 

 tive work will rapidly spread to other parts. 

 The Province of Quebec has made a begin- 

 ning in planting up sand lands and in dis- 

 tributing seedling trees to farmers. The 

 policy of creating township forest reserves 

 is being extended. 



In British Columbia a survey of the for- 

 est lands is in progress. Lands desired for 

 settlement must first be examined by the 

 Forest Branch to ascertain if they are suit- 

 ed to agriculture. The timber lessees pay 

 1% cents per acre and the Government adds 

 a like amount to a fire protection fund. 

 This amounted in 1913 to $375,000. With 

 this, during the year 1913, 415 rangers were 

 employed in addition tQ 60 employed by the 

 railways. At the conclusion of the danger 

 season the rangers were employed in cut- 

 ting roads and fire lines and erecting tele- 

 phone lines and lookout stations. In this 

 way by the Autumn of 1913 1,205 miles of 

 trail and 529 miles of telephone line had 

 been constructed. 



In New Brunswick about $35,000 was 

 spent by the Government on forest fire pro- 



