M innefiota\^ ConMitiihonal Amendment 



13 



In Southorii Allierta there is another set 

 of i>rol>!ein.s of an interiiatioiml character. 

 Mere tht'iv are alroaily irrijjatiou jtrojects 

 ill Iteing but two of the i-hief irrigating 

 rivers flow hatk anil forth across the Inter- 

 national lionmlary. B_v afxreenicnt with the 

 Initfil States, Canaila ami that country 

 are to take e<|ual amounts of water from 

 these rivers, ami measurements are in pro- 

 j^ress to iletermiiu' what the regular How 

 is. Measurements are also in progress to 

 ascertain what amount of water can be 

 taken from the Bow ami North Saskatche- 

 wan rivers for irrigation. This will serve 

 to show the e.xtent of the work. Persons 

 tlesiring copies of this report may obtain 

 them upon applying to the Superintemlent 

 of Irrigation, Ottawa. 



GREAT S.VND II ILLS 

 RESERVE. 



FOREST 



Mr. t'harles J. Herriot, of Santlford Dene, 

 .Saskat<hewan, writes: 



' In reply to yours of Nov. 17, i would 

 say I am pleased to note that the necessary 

 steps towards the formation of a forest re- 

 MMve in the Great Sand Hills have been 

 taken. 



'Throughout this district the people are 

 \vell jdea^eil with the jirosjiects, and Avelcome 

 the idea, as it will mean added protection 

 against fires, which have been very coiuiuon 

 during the past four years. 



'These Sand Hills are truly a fire traj). 

 there being such an amount of dead scrub 

 and long grass, where it is not burned to 

 the liare sand. The area of bare sand is 

 increasing yearly, while in some portions 

 there is springing uj) a gooil growth of 

 poplar. 



' As I have just served a term on the 

 Local Council, (Rural Municipality of I'itt- 

 ville, No. lf)ii Sask.) i might say that when 

 I brought the matter before the Council, 

 early in June. 1914, they tabled the ques- 

 tion till they had each felt the pulse of the 

 people in their respective wards. At the 

 next meeting, the Secretary was instructed 

 to write the Department of the Interior, 

 Ottawa, asking that the aiea above men- 

 tioned be Willi. irawn from settlement, i)oint- 

 ing out that it was absolutely worthless for 

 farming. The Board was unanimous that 

 this would be in the best interests of the 

 community at large. ' 



SMOKING IN THE WOODS. 



Considerable discussion has taken place 

 on the Pacific Coast as to whether it is 

 possible to stop smoking in the woods. Mr. 

 Arthur J. Hendry, of the B. C. Mills Tim- 

 ber & Trailing Co., writes thus to the 

 Tintberman: — 



'I ijuite agree with you liiat smoking iu 

 the woods during the dry season is a 

 iiiinaci', and is no doubt the cause of some 

 of the forest fires, and while 1 personally 

 iielie\e that it would lie a good thing 'if 

 smoking could be ]>rohibited in the woods 

 during this season of the year, yet 1 do 

 not see how this could be projierly en- 

 forced; as the men in the logging camps 

 are more or less scattered through various 

 parts of the workings, it is impossible at 

 all times for the foreman to see some of 

 the men, and no doubt unless some one was 

 around where they are working, probably 

 some of them would smoke notwithstand- 

 ing any regulations which might be on the 

 statute boidv. I might say that there is 

 already in the statutes of British <'oluni- 

 bia, llllL', a clause which seeks to restrict 

 this, and is as follows: — 



''During the close .season every person 

 who throws or drops any burning match, 

 ashes of a pipe, lighted cigarette or cigar, 

 or any other burning substance, or who 

 idasts wood with any explosive in any 

 forest or brush land, or at a distam-e of 

 less than half a mile therefrom, shall com- 

 jiletely extinguish the fire of such match, 

 ashes of a pipe, or other burnilig sub- 

 stance l>efore leaving the s|iot." 



' 1 am not prepared to say whether any- 

 thing more can be 'lone in this direction at 

 the jiresent time. ' 



THE VALUE OF YOUNG TIMBER. 



The British ('olumbia Forest Branch, in 

 a recent bulletin, says: — 



'It has l)een found by experience that a 

 large jiroportion of the fires which start 

 in slash or young timber will, if allowed 

 to run, sjiread to valuable timber or j»ro- 

 perty, and when beyond control destroy 

 the homes of settlers in the small villages 

 now being built up throughout the prov- 

 ince, and cause loss of life. The j>rotec- 

 tion of the settlers, as well as of the tim- 

 ber, is not assured unless all bush fires are 

 kept under control during the dry season. 



' ^'oung timber growing on non-agricul- 

 tural Lands is an asset worth protecting 

 from fire. Nearly every setlter knows 

 how r.apidly young timber grows to pole 

 and tie size. In most districts in Britisli 

 Columbia timber reaches commercial size 

 ill sixty or eighty years. It requires no 

 planting, grows without care or expense, 

 and produces a valuable crop, whiidi now 

 beautifies the hills, protects the water- 

 sheils, and will, in another generation, 

 sujiport industries. These facts are so well 

 understood in British Columbia that the 

 Forest Branch is everywhere securing the 

 co-operation of the residents in preventing 

 destructive fires in the young as well as 

 the old timber.' 



