228 



Canadian Forestry Journal, October, ipij. 



Nova Scotia, and on it you will be 

 almost sure to find the best of drink- 

 ing water, plenty of wood for fuel, 

 and soil that will grow fruit, grain 

 and vegetables, and pasturage for 

 seven months in the year. 



We are getting a few "come- 

 backs," people who have tried the 

 West and missing our Eastern sur- 

 roundings have sold out their Wes- 

 tern holdings and returned to farm- 

 ing in Nova Scotia. The surround- 

 ings and advantages if properly put 

 before incoming overseas settlers 

 should capture many more than we 

 are now getting. I am sure we 

 could get neither the Canadian nor 

 the emigrant to come to Nova Scotia 

 if the natural resources we hold in 

 forest and stream were swept away. 

 I have heard it said that the word 

 "conservation" was a word to con- 

 jure with ; so I would like to put a 

 meaning to it that would do some- 

 thing more than charm. Construc- 

 tive conservation and not a preven- 

 tive conservation is what is needed. 

 Protection from fire first ! A knowl- 

 edge of what we have to protect, 

 and the ability to grow timber of 

 the better kinds, and to make the 

 best possible use of it when it has 

 reached proper maturity! 



Conifers Must Be Saved. 



How does this matter stand to-day 

 in Nova Scotia? The first cutting 

 in the province was the pine, no 

 other wood equalled it in value. The 

 virgin pine is practically gone, and 

 the cutting of spruce has followed, 

 next hemlock. At the present time 

 the cut of lumber is for the most 

 part spruce and hemlock, with a 

 limited amount of hardwood. The 

 growth of hardwood is almost un- 

 limited, but its usefulness very 

 limited, and at its best is a fourth 

 grade as compared with birch and 

 maple of other provinces. It would 

 be a serious mistake to believe that 

 when the coniferous growth is cut 

 away the hardwood could fill its 

 place. 



I feel that I need not go into ela- 



borate statistics to show the need of 

 conservation. In the varied busi- 

 ness of the province, manufacturing, 

 farming and building, we all know 

 that schedules of the larger sized 

 timber or lumber that could be 

 readily supplied not so very many 

 years ago could not be filled to-day 

 without importing. In fact we do 

 import, and about seven-eights of 

 the hardwood used in manufacturing 

 in Canada comes from the United 

 States. In our newer houses, you 

 will find British Columbia doors 

 and floors. In bridge construction 

 and wharf building Southern pine is 

 almost exclusively used. Then there 

 is boxing, staves, heading, hoops, 

 and shingles that come in from 

 neighboring provinces. 



Stream Flow Injured. 



In a general way it may be stated 

 that the annual cut of recent years 

 has been exceeding the annual 

 growth, and that the effect of fires 

 and the cutting away of the forest 

 is making a noticeable diminution 

 in the flow of water in the streams 

 of the province. Mr. Snowball, of 

 New Brunswick, said that a water 

 mill on a stream near where he lived 

 used to saw lumber for four or five 

 months in the year handling the av- 

 erage winter crop of logs. Then a 

 change took place, the water failed, 

 the mill was put out of business. It 

 seemed that settlers had gone in on 

 the headwaters and in a few years 

 had cleared off the land for miles 

 around. The 'never failing stream,' 

 as he expressed it, had become a tor- 

 rent during the spring freshet, and 

 after that a trickle of water for the 

 rest of the 3'ear. I fear that many 

 streams in Nova Scotia will suffer 

 in the same way. 



The Government of Nova Scotia 

 has been approached on the subject 

 of the purchase of cut-over and 

 watershed woodland, and to hold it 

 as a protection to the flow of water, 

 but the diversified ownership, pri- 

 vate interests, and uncertain surveys 

 makes this a rather difficult problem. 



