56 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April-May, 1914 



Report on the Trent Watershed. 



There has been issued bj' the Commission 

 of Conservation of Canada the report on 

 The Trent Watershed Stirvey, compiled by 

 Dr. C. D. Howe and Mr. J. H. White of 

 the Faculty of Forestry, University of To- 

 ronto, with an introduction by Dr. B. E. 

 Fernow. The re]>ort comprises 156 pages 

 and is illustrated with 32 half-tone engrav- 

 ings and three maps. 



The district covered by the report is in 

 the central part of Southern Ontario, and 

 lies along the line of the Trent Valley Canal, 

 Avhich is ultimately to connect Lake Ontario 

 with Georgian Bay. The region surveyed 

 is about mi(hvay between these two bodies 

 of water. It takes in part of the counties 

 of Haliburton, Peterborough and Hastings. 

 This district was once a great j^ine forest. 

 Owing to the fact that the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment has invested .$10,000,000 in the 

 Trent Valley Canal, and owing to the fur- 

 ther fact that the navigation and water- 

 powers on the canal are vitally related to 

 the forest cover in the district, the Do- 

 minion Government is more directly inter- 

 ested than in other parts of the country. 

 The Ontario Government is interested in the 

 matter of timber dues and land sales, while 

 all the municipalities are interested because 

 of the municipal needs of the district and 

 the question of the taxes to be derived 

 therefrom. 



The report states that the area is typical 

 of much of the cutover lands of Eastern 

 Canada for which it is desiraVjle to formu- 

 late a policy of recuperation. The surface 

 of the country is broken and hilly, inter- 

 spersed with innumerable small lakes. The 

 soil is underlaid with rock which is laid 

 bare by repeated burning of the timber and 

 young growth. 



The report covers farming, forest, indus- 

 trial, mining and tourist traffic conditions 

 in the area considered. It states that only 

 15,000 people inhabit the 2,100 square miles 

 of the watershed (a decrease since 1901 of 

 15 per cent.), and that hardly 10 per cent, 

 of the region has been cleared for farm 

 purposes. The soil is altogether unsuitable 

 for agriculture, and run-doMn and abandon- 

 ed farms are to be fouml in large numbers. 

 Nearly 200 farms were for sale for unpaid 

 taxes in 1911 at 6 cents per acre. 



Practically all the pine has been removed. 

 The whole area has been burned over at 

 least once. Almost one-half the area is cov- 

 ered with young and second-growth trees 

 of the poplar-birch type, the result of fires. 



It was found, however, that enough hard- 

 wood and wood of the poplar-birch type 

 remain to warrant the adoption of a policy 

 of conservation, and Dominion, Provincial 

 or municipal ownership of the territory in 



question is suggested by the Commission as 

 an initial step in that direction. Other re- 

 commendations are: the re-possessing by the 

 Province of the licensed lands which have 

 practically ceased to produce the quantity 

 of logs contemplated under original licenses; 

 the imposing of restrictions on existing limit 

 holders, tending to protect the forest 

 growth; the appointment of a forester 

 charged with the surveillance of the region; 

 the perfecting of a fire-protection organiza- 

 tion, building of look-out stations and watch 

 towers, and appointment of the game- 

 wardens as fire-wardens. 



Copies of this report may be had by those 

 interested by applying to the Commission of 

 Conservation, Ottawa. 



COMPLIMENT BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Many compliments have been received 

 by the Honorable W. E. Eoss, Minister of 

 Lands of British Columbia, upon the new 

 Timber Eoyalty Act, in which the prin- 

 ciple of profit-sharing in the timber re- 

 source is a feature. Among those who 

 have written warmly commending the new 

 act are: Hon. Clifford Sifton, Chairman of 

 the Canadian Commission of Conserva- 

 tion; Mr. Henry S. Graves, Chief Forester 

 of the LTnited States; Hon. David Hous- 

 ton, United States Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, and Dr. B. E. Fernow, Dean Faculty 

 of Forestry of the University, Toronto. 

 At a meeting of Timber License Holders, 

 held in the office of the B. C. Lumber and 

 Shingle Manufacturers' Association, the 

 subject w^as discussed, and t-he report 

 states that all present ajjpeared well satis- 

 fieil with the new act. 



The letter of the United States Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture was as follows: 'The 

 plan of readjusting stumpage values of 

 timber at stated intervals in sales from 

 public lands, whereby the public will de- 

 rive a fair share of the increase in lumber 

 values, is one with which I am in hearty 

 accord. You will doubtless be interested 

 in learning that a provision of this char- 

 acter is included by this dej^artment in all 

 contracts for sales of timber from national 

 forest lands where the period of contract 

 is in excess of five years, and that it has 

 been accepted as equitable by timber 

 operators. I »feel that you are to be 

 heartily congratulated on this progressive 

 legislation. ' 



Dr. Weiss, Director of the United States 

 Forest Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, 

 U.S.A., is to go to British Columbia this 

 summer at the request of Hon. W. E. Eoss, 

 Minister of Lands, to study the utilization 

 of waste products in lumber manufactur- 

 ing. 



