52 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April, 1915 



ties and these had covered au area of a lit- 

 tle more thau 100,000 square miles lu 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the 

 Eailwav Belt in British Columbia. This 

 area was largely distributed in a belt 

 north of the prairies. Another year would 

 give, he hoped, a solid belt of examined 

 land from the western boundary of On- 

 tario to the Rocky Mountains. The cost 

 of these surveys averaged about 60 or 65 

 cents per square mile. 



The Loss From Fires. 



The information so far compiled showed 

 that at least 80 per cent of the area exam- 

 ined between Lake Winnipeg and the Rocky 

 Mountains had been burned over during the 

 last 50 to 75 years. 



The white spruce, the tree best adapted 

 to these regions, was comparatively scarce 

 because of having, after these fires, been 

 replaced, at least temporarily, by aspen. 

 At the present time aspen which m north- 

 ern Europe was considered one of the 

 worst enemies of foresters and lumber- 

 men, was the leading tree. It was hoped, 

 however, that efficient fire protection 

 would help spruce to get into its own 

 again. On sandv soils the jackpme in the 

 east and lodgepole pine in the west were 

 the species par excellence. 



Canada's Great Opportunity. 



From a careful study of all the data 

 available Mr. Wallin was of opinion that, 

 with the exception of muskegs and high 

 altitudes in the Rockies, the non-agricul- 

 tural land in the country examined, if pro- 

 perly protected, was nearly all capable of 

 producing excellent spruce and jackpme 

 timber under a comparatively short rota- 

 tion. Foresters should do all they could 

 to see that logged-over and burned areas 

 were restocked with spruce or jackpine. If 

 thev could succeed in this there was no 

 reason whv Canada should not have tim- 

 ber for export as well as for her owm use 

 for all time to come. This conclusion was 

 partlv the result of comparisons between 

 Canada and Mr. Wallin "s native country, 

 Sweden. In Sweden there had been periods 

 of great fires and wasteful logging and yet 

 that country with an area of about 52,000,- 

 ,000 acres in forests was in a position to- 

 day, after half a century of rational for- 

 estrv methods, to export millions of dol- 

 lars' worth of lumber and other forest 

 products. During the forty years 1871 to 

 1910 Sweden exported $1,480,000,000 worth 

 of round timber, sawmill products, pulp 

 and pit props. The total value of forest 

 products in Sweden to-day was estimated 

 at $100,000,000 per year, and yet the for- 

 ests of that country were not over-exploit- 

 ed. In addition to this timber grew 

 quicker in Canada than in northern 

 Sweden, where most of the forests were 

 found. 



What Sweden Has Done. 



Mr. Wallin 's conclusion on this point 

 was: "It seems to me that if a country 

 (Sweden) which is only about the size of 

 Manitoba, can make so much out of her 

 forests without exhausting herself there 

 is no reason why Canada with her im- 

 mense areas of forest land should not be- 

 come the greatest timber-producing and 

 timber-exporting country in the world; but 

 to reach this goal proper protection and 

 proper management of our forests is neces- 

 sarv and this I think can only be obtained 

 by "including absolute forest land in forest 

 reserves. ' '" 



DR. SCHENCK IN THE WAR. 



Dr. Schenck, founder and head of the Bilt- 

 more Forest School, who about a year ago 

 gave up his work in America and retired 

 to live in Germany, has been fighting in the 

 war on the side of Germany. Dr. Schenck 

 is known to many in Canada and the follow- 

 ing item clipped from the Biltmorean, the 

 organ of the graduates of Biltmore School, 

 will interest them: 



"Just after the Bilimorcan went to press 

 a most interesting letter was received from 

 Doctor Schenck. On December 15th, at the 

 liattle of Lodz in Poland, the Doctor was 

 shot through the abdomen but by prompt 

 attention on the part of the surgeons at the 

 miUtary hospital in Lodz his life was saved 

 and he' was able to be taken back to Darm- 

 stadt on the 27th of December, arriving 

 home on the 29th. By January 11th, he was 

 able to walk over to the ' Exerzierplatz ' and 

 expecteil within two weeks from then to be 

 able to rejoin his regiment in Poland. Doc- 

 tor Schenck, who has received the Iron Cross 

 for bravery, is an ' Oberleutnant and Adju- 

 tant' (Lieutenant-Colonel and Adjutant) in 

 a battalion of Lendwehr Infantry and was 

 in the thick of the fighting from November 

 16th until the time he was shot." 



NOTES. 



Officers of the Okanagan national forest, 

 in the State of Washington are installing 

 powerful signal lanterns for night use in 

 reporting forest fires from lookout peaks. 



A report upon the timber and soil con- 

 ditions ni southeastern Manitoba, has been 

 issued as Bulletin No. 45, by the Forestry 

 Branch of the Department of the Interior. 



Of the total area of Ireland, about 1.5 

 per cent is under woods, while the woods 

 in England are 5..3 per cent, in Scotland 

 4.5 per cent, and in Wales 3.9 per cent of 

 the total areas. 



