406 



Canadian Forestry Journal, February, ipi6. 



over one person to the acre, as com- 

 pared with two to the square mile 

 in Canada, though on an area of 

 11,373 square miles, as compared 

 with 3,729,665 square miles of Can- 

 ada, a population of 7,423,784 is sup- 

 ported, as compared with a popula- 

 tion of 7,206,643 in Canada, 18% of 

 the area of the country is kept in 

 forest. 



The conclusion seems clear then 

 that a state densely populated and 

 highly organized agriculturally and 

 industrially, does not show its civili- 

 zation by destroying the forests but 

 by preserving them and working 

 them into the national economy. 



Canadian Forest Products. 



The value of the forests to Can- 

 adian industry and development is 

 already large. The report of the last 

 census shows that there were 4,999 

 establishments engaged in making 

 timber or lumber or in its manufac- 

 ture, that the capital invested in 

 them was $260,000,000; that there 

 were 110,000 employees receiving 

 $39,379,000 in wages, and that the 

 value of the product was $185,000,- 

 000, and this does not include manu- 

 factures such as paper, vehicles, 

 boats, agricultural implements and 

 others in which large quantities of 

 wood are used. The export of for- 

 est products and manufactures of 

 wood (not including those only par- 

 tially made of wood) was $53,344,- 

 616. The revenue received by the 

 different governments of Canada di- 

 rectlv from the forests during the 

 year'l913 was $7,433,770. 



There is therefore strong reason 

 from the history of older countries 

 and the past and present contribu- 

 tion of the forests to Canadian pros- 

 perity, to decide that a policy of 

 preparedness and production should 

 be applied to Canadian forests and 

 to ask how it should be applied. 



''Preparedness" for Canada. 

 Preparedness implies a knowledge 

 as thorough as possible of what has 

 to be dealt with. For the forest this 



involves a system of timber surveys, 

 general at first but steadily increas- 

 ing in intensity, until the whole field 

 is thoroughly covered. Such sur- 

 veys will give information as to the 

 total stands of timber, their distribu- 

 tion and their condition, and will 

 show whether they are in general lo- 

 cated on agricultural or non-agricul- 

 tural lands. The information at 

 present available in regard to the 

 timber resources of the Dominion is 

 indefinite and is based on theoretical 

 estimates from very general inform- 

 ation. All the governments in Can- 

 ada are gathering such information, 

 some regularly and on a definite 

 plan, some spasmodically and with- 

 out any plan, but the work should 

 be pushed forward on some definite 

 scheme in which the Dominion 

 might very well consider assisting 

 in a large measure. 



Setting Apart Forest Land. 



Preparedness involves the hand- 

 ling of the forests the general body 

 of which is on non-agricultural lands 

 in a different way from those forests 

 which are on agricultural lands. 

 Wheat and timber cannot be grown 

 on the same land at the same tim^, 

 nor can they be grown on the same 

 land in alternate years. One or 

 other must yield place, and it seems 

 clearly the duty of the state to de- 

 cide upon and definitely set apart 

 the lands that are to grow timber, 

 whether they be called forest re- 

 serves or simply forests, or whatever 

 name they may be called by, and no 

 agricultural entries for such lands or 

 clearing of such lands for agriculture 

 should be permitted until an official 

 and expert examination decides that 

 the lands can be so more profitably 

 used, and even then they should be 

 opened only under such restrictions 

 as will adequately protect the sur- 

 rounding timber. The determina- 

 tion of the best economic use of 

 land is of great importance and is 

 something which should not neces- 

 sarily be settled by lumbermen and 

 foresters alone but in which the co- 



