298 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1915. 



ignited except by some natural 

 cause. Later, it was examined and 

 did not seem a likely spot for a pros- 

 pector or any other mortal to have 

 been. It has been suggested that the 

 rubbing together of the dry limbs of 

 trees in windy weather will create 

 sufficient friction to ignite them. 

 The idea, however, seems somewhat 

 far fetched. 



In conclusion I may say that the 

 chief delight of the alpine mind is in 

 the glory of mountain scenery : the 

 wonderful billows of cloud that 

 wrap the white-clad giants in their 

 clinging folds, the lights and sha- 

 dows on snow and rock, the purple 

 and violet haze that dims the val- 

 leys, and above all the contrast of 

 colouring seen in the ever changing 

 shades of the green forest as they 

 pass from the bright gold of sun- 

 shine to the black depths of cloud 

 shadow. Those who have climbed, 

 or travelled by trail, in the wilds of 

 the Rockies know what misery it 

 means to spend hours climbing up 

 slopes of down timber and burned 



sticks, to spend days chopping a 

 path through miles of brule and! 

 windfall, and can speak still more 

 feelingly concerning this curse that 

 hangs over the forest. 



The Asset of Scenery. 



The mountain scenery has proved 

 of late years to be one of Canada's 

 greatest future assets. Thousands 

 come from all parts every summer 

 to enjoy their holidays in the midst 

 of these glories of Nature and to 

 benefit by the wonderfully revitatiz- 

 ing effects of the clear, bracing at- 

 mosphere of the hills. The tourist 

 business will be vastly greater in the 

 future and will be a gold mine in the 

 matter of revenue. Bush fires des- 

 troy the beauty of the scenery and 

 cover the landscape with a pall of 

 smoke. It is absolutely imperative 

 that the most stringent measures be 

 taken to preserve the scenic beauties 

 of the forest that still remain to us, 

 and with all such efforts the Alpine 

 Club of Canada is very fully in. 

 sympathy. 



Forestry in Switzerland 



The Story of the Evolution of a Great National System That 

 Holds Much Instruction For Canadians. 



How the public forest policy of 

 Switzerland came into being is most 

 interestingly discussed in the last re- 

 port of the Swiss Society of Fores- 

 ters which has taken a large part in 

 the development of forestry in 

 Switzerland. The following is a 

 partial resume : 



!'The country is covered with 

 marshes and great impenetrable 

 forests." Such was the description 

 the Roman historian Tacitus gave 

 of Switzerland toward the year 100 

 A.D. 



The forest was at the beginning a 

 great obstacle to colonization. It 



was from the forests that it was 

 necessary to gain the lands neces- 

 sary for grazing and agriculture. In 

 the time of the Roman occupation 

 settlement had already been estab- 

 lished in the more important com- 

 munities and a good system of roads 

 established. Settlement in the for- 

 est apparently proceeded much as it 

 has done in Canada if some of the 

 place names such as Eterpas (from 

 the Latin extirpare) and Breuleux, 

 Brulayie, etc.. (from the French 

 hruler, to burn) are any indication. 



Communities were formed in 

 which the houses and cultivated" 



