Canadian Forestry Journal, February, ipi6. 



407 



operation of the agricultural and soil 

 experts of the departments and col- 

 leg-es of agriculture should be secur- 

 ed. 



New Uses for Wood. 

 Preparedness involves the devel- 

 opment of uses for wood so that they 

 may coiitribute to the growth of in- 

 dustries using wood, and may assist 

 other industries using its products 

 indirectly. When we have grown a 

 forest we really do not know what 

 we have. We have a product vary- 

 ing in qualities generally known as 

 wood. We have small and uncer- 

 tain knowledge of its qualities, 

 structure and composition. We have 

 used wood in the condition of wood, 

 or we have separated some of its 

 component substances, but we have 

 not as yet real or thorough knowl- 

 edge of what we are dealing with. 

 Research must be carried on so that 

 we may market our products with a 

 statement of their qualities guaran- 

 teed by the results of scientific in- 

 vestigation ; so that the best pro- 

 cesses may be followed in our indus- 

 tries, such for instance as that of 

 pulp and paper in which Canada 

 may fairly aspire to first place in the 

 world. The attention given at the 

 present time in America to the use 

 of pine oil, a product of wood distil- 

 lation, in ore flotation is an indica- 

 tion of the uses which may develop 

 from a more thorough knowledge of 

 our woods and their prducts. Not 

 the natural richness of the country 

 but scientific research and thorough 

 development of its resources gave 

 Germany the place in industry and 

 commerce which she held before the 

 war and might have continued to 

 hold if she had been content with 

 peaceful development. It was in 

 order to begin the organization of 

 such research work in regard to 

 wood that the Forest Products La- 

 boratories of Canada were establish- 

 ed by the Department of the Interior 

 in co-operation with McGill Univer- 

 sity. It is hoped that the beginning 

 thus made will grow into an impor- 



tant auxiliary to the development of 

 the country. 



Wood Production. 



Production means the growing of 

 more and larger crops of wood. The 

 experience of older countries and 

 the information obtained from a 

 careful examination, of our own 

 should give the necessary indication 

 of how this should be brought about. 

 The timber surveys show that the 

 mature forest bears but a small re- 

 lation to the forest area in general 

 but that the reproduction in young 

 growth is general and on the whole 

 satisfactory. There is mature tim- 

 ber and to spare for the moment, but 

 the main hope of the future is in the 

 protection of the immature stands 

 that will be merchantable at no dis- 

 tant period. This is a crop already 

 sown and half matured without cost 

 to the country and will be the cheap- 

 est crop of timber that will ever be 

 grown here. Protection for this 

 crop must be given if our production 

 is not to fall. There is no throughlv 

 adequate system of protection yet in 

 force anywhere in Canada, and 

 neither government nor timber own- 

 ers can afford to stop at the stage 

 which has been reached. Better or- 

 ganization, better equipment, great- 

 er efficiency in men, more thorough 

 education of the public must be had 

 if the future is to be secure. 



The Duty of Planting. 



Production means the planting of 

 forests. In old settled districts in 

 Ontario, Quebec, and other provin- 

 ces, and here and there throughout 

 the western prairies are sandy or 

 rocky tracts of land that have been 

 bared of forest, are not now used 

 for agriculture, and Avhich must be 

 replanted with trees if they are to 

 be made productive. Belgium, 

 France, Germany, Scotland, replant 

 such lands at a cost of $10 to $20 per 

 acre, and it has paid to do so. Both 

 Quebec and Ontario have begun 

 planting and a beginning has been 

 made in the prairie provinces by the 



