Commission of Conservation. 



tion I'oi- the men, preferably in the 

 snivel r oi'c'hard itself, it shonUl not be 

 diU'icult to provide and retain ade- 

 quate skiUed hd:>or. To many a 

 farmer who has a wood lot and taps 

 a few trees that nature has given 

 him. the return is not large for the 

 labor, but the same thing i)revailed 

 in the apple industry, when the 

 farmer attemj)ted to sell a few seed- 

 ling apples from accidental fruit 

 ti-ees al>out the fences and clearings. 

 To-day select orchard lands are 

 j)lanted, ilrainetl, cultivated, and 

 carefully tended, and I am free to 

 say that, considering the initial cost 

 of suitable apple tree land, and the 

 subsequent expense of planting and 

 caring for the orchard, the return is 

 not greater, nor the investment more 



secure, than would be a nuiple or- 

 chard well located and well admin- 

 istered. Furthermore, much of the 

 land suitable for maple trees is quite 

 unsuitable for fruit trees, and young 

 nuii)le trees are found on every hand 

 i-eady for planting, and recpiire no 

 spraying or cultivating. The neces- 

 sary capital to plant a maple or- 

 chard is far below the amount re- 

 quired to plant a fi'uit orchai-d. 



If our Government should wisely 

 limit the use of the word 'maple' to 

 absolutely pure nuiple products, it 

 would then be a perfectly safe com- 

 mercial venture to reforest nuiny of 

 the waste areas, and develop those 

 gorgeous maple groves which are at 

 once the glory and salvation of our 

 northern hillsides. 



Commtssion of Conservation 



Fifth Amiual Meeting a Notable Event. 



The fifth annual meeting of the Commis- 

 sion of Conservation of Canada Avas held 

 in the Board Eoom of the new offices of 

 the Commission, Masonic Temple, Ottawa, 

 on Jan. 20 and 21. The Chairman, Hon. 

 Clifford Sifton, who was unavoidably 

 absent last year, occupied the chair, and 

 the proceedings throughout were of the 

 most interesting and important character. 

 The meeting opened with the address of 

 the Chairman, in w-hich he reviewed the 

 work before the Commission. The head- 

 ings of the different paragraphs indicate 

 the wide scope of this important pro- 

 nouncement. These are: Water and Water 

 Powers, Fisheries, Game and Fur Bearing 

 Animals, Oyster Culture, Minerals, Agri- 

 culture, Agricultural Survey, Illustration 

 Farms, Public Health, Town Planning, 

 Forestry, The Trent Watershed Survey, 

 Fire Protection, Investigation of Forest 

 Eesources, Fore.stry on Dominion Timber 

 Berths, Permanency of Forest Service. 

 Address of Hon. Clifford Sifton. 



.As the address of Hon. Mr. Sifton would 

 in itself fill nearly the whole of this issue 

 of the Journal, it will be possible, on this 

 occasion, to give only a few of his most 

 striking points in regard to forestry. In 

 dealing with the cut-over territory in the 

 Trent watershed of Ontario, he suggested 



Dominion, provincial or municipal owner- 

 ship of the territory in question, the 

 redrafting of regulations governing the 

 timber limits still active there, and the 

 appointment of a forester to have charge 

 of the region. Fire protection work along 

 the railway lines (under Mr. Clyde Leavitt 

 acting for the Dominion Kailway Commis- 

 sion and in co-operation with the Dominion 

 and provincial forest services), was gone 

 into with great care. The results which 

 had been secured by the co-operative 

 handling of the railway fire protection 

 work had been admirable. In the West 

 practically no criticism could be made in 

 this matter. The eastern provinces were 

 more conservative and comj)letion of the 

 organization was slower. However, as- 

 surances received indicated a much more 

 satisfactory organization in the East in 

 1914. For the most i)art, the railways had 

 endeavored to comply honestly with the 

 various requirements. In order to com- 

 plete the work of fire protection along 

 railways, further action was necessary 

 respecting lines not under the Railway 

 Commission. These were the Government 

 railways and the provincially chartered 

 railways. New legislation was required 

 regarding provincial railways, and in- 

 creaseil administrative action in regard to 



