Nova Scotia's Forestry Opportunities 



Peculiar Situation and Advantages in the Bluenose Province 



Those who travel extensively in 

 Nova Scotia for the first time are 

 struck by the large proportion of the 

 soil which is still under woods, and 

 which, to all appearances, is fit only 

 to produce wood crops. In addition 

 to this, the visitor is struck by the 

 suitability of the climate for tree 

 growth. Such a large proportion of 

 the province is absolute forest land 

 (authorities estimate it at from 65 to 

 70 per cent.) that to allow this to be 

 neglected is not economy, but waste. 

 Highways and railways must be kept 

 up through it to get from place to 

 l^lace, and on the very low^est plane of 

 ecenomy it should be producing 

 freight. Of course, nearly all of it is 

 lu-oducing some freight, but, like the 

 cut-over timber land of the rest of 

 North America, it is not producing to 

 the acre anything like it should. 



Another thing that strikes the visi- 

 tor is that the fertile spots are very 

 fertile, and very beautiful as pictures 

 of farming scenery. So much of the 

 land is not fit for farming that Nature 

 seems to have balanced things by mak- 

 ing the good i)arts very rich. Again, 

 the visitor from inland Canada is 

 struck by the presence of two im- 

 portant industries, coal mining and 

 sea fishing. 



This produces a state of affairs 

 which is, in many respects, unique. 

 Here there is a naturally good timber 

 country, and riglit along side of it, 

 and mixed in with it, is territory 

 which requires timber. The mines 

 require pit props, hundreds of miles 

 of them, the fisheries require barrels 

 and kegs and fishing craft, while the 

 farms and orchards need boxes and 

 crates and baskets and barrels. This 

 is in addition to the houses, barns. 



slieds, fences, and other structures 

 which all need. This very fortunate 

 circumstance has been, in a way, a 

 ])ad thing for forest industries. The 

 fact that the market is so near at 

 haiul, and will use up so much in- 

 ferior material, has led the people to 

 underestimate the value of the forest. 

 Frequently the man who makes bar- 

 rels, or kegs, or crates, gets the ma- 

 terial off' his own property, or from 

 that of his neighbors, and the amount 

 used never gets' into the statistics of 

 the province. The Bulletin of the 

 Forestry Branch of the Department 

 of the Interior on the Wood Using In- 

 dustries of the Maritime Provinces 

 has gathered statistics from six hun- 

 dred factories and shops in the three 

 provinces of New Brunswick, Nova 

 Scotia and Prince Edward Island, 

 but even this large number, more com- 

 plete than ever before, one feels sure 

 does not take in all the men, who, for 

 a part of tlie year, make staves, or 

 hoops, or some other product used 

 locally. This fact has kept, and still 

 keeps, the people of the province gen- 

 erally from realizing the full value 

 of the forest industries, and what it 

 will mean when these industries dis- 

 appear for want of material. Then 

 the fact that much inferior and small 

 timber can be utilized has led to much 

 closer cutting of the forests than 

 where only lumber of the standard 

 sizes was made. 



The apple growers are jusi,t begin- 

 ning to realize^ that, whereas, ten 

 years ago they paid only for the labor 

 in a barrel or box, they now have to 

 pay as much more for the material ; 

 so that the price has about doubled. 

 The same state of affairs exists in re- 

 gard to fish barrels and mine timbers. 



84 



