Canadian Forestry Jownal, December, 1915. 



289 



Increased Production and Forest 

 Management 



The Call of the Hour Applies as Closely to F'orest Crops as to 



Grain Crops. 



By R. H. Campbell, 

 Director of Forestry, Ottazva. 



Production is being- urged strong- 

 ly on the Canadian people at the 

 present time from official and other 

 sources in order that the burdens 

 placed on the country by the war 

 may be met and the necessary sup- 

 plies furnished the Allies. While 

 this advice has been given or inter- 

 preted to relate particularly to food 

 stuffs it is as important and as ne- 

 cessary in regard to other natural 

 products and particularly timber. 



The importance of timber in the 

 economy of any country is well illu- 

 strated by the following extract 

 from a recent letter received from 

 the Hague, Holland, from a Belgian : 



"I would like to receive through 

 your intervention some notes and 

 details concerning the timber and 

 construction materials of Canada. 



"In fact our little Belgium will 

 have suffered much in consequence 

 of the great European catastrophe 

 and it is for us Belgians to think 

 from now on as to the reconstruc- 

 tion of all this. 



"After the war we will be obliged 

 to utilize mainly the materials of our 

 Allies or of the neutral countries. 

 Timber will play a great part in the 

 reconstruction of our country." 



"Will It Pay?" 

 Belgium, with a population of 

 nearly 600 to the square mile, has a 

 forest area of 1,288,000 acres out of 



a total area of 7,275,000 acres and 

 was increasing the forest area. The 

 Belgian forests were a paying pro- 

 position but that is not the sole rea- 

 son for having them. The even 

 stronger reasons are expressed by 

 Mr. N. I. Crahay, the Director 

 General of the Belgian Forests, in 

 reply to an enquiry as to whether 

 forestry pays : — 



"Ah! you English, you always 

 want to know will it pay? In Bel- 

 gium we look at the matter different- 

 ly. We realize that the afforesta- 

 tion of waste lands affords an 

 enormous amount of healthy work 

 to the Belgian people, work required 

 just when otherwise the men would 

 be unemployed. W^e realize the im- 

 portance of providing a large 

 amount of home grown timber in 

 view of the depletion of the world's 

 timber supply, and we think too of 

 the beneficial effects of forests, not 

 only upon climate but upon the soil 

 of the waste lands to the great ad- 

 vantage of the country." 



The importance of the forest and 

 its products in the economy of Can- 

 ada is illustrated from the report of 

 the last census which shows that 

 there were 4,999 establishments en- 

 gaged in making timber or lumber 

 or in its re-manufacture; that the 

 capital invested in them was $260,- 

 000,000; that there were 110.000 

 employees receiving $39,379,000 in 



