Canadian Forestry Journal, February, ipi6. 



447 



B. C. from the enemy of forests all 

 over North America — fire. This has 

 been practically accomplished. Do 

 not let me be misunderstood. We 

 still have forest fires, many of them, 

 but as in a well patrolled city, the 

 large majority do not get past the 

 incipient stage and the annual loss 

 through this source can be calcu- 

 lated fairly closely. After protec- 

 tion comes utilization of the forest 

 wealth. 



Loss of Mature Timber. 

 The Forest Branch after careful 

 investigation covering three years 

 finds that there is at a conservative 

 estimate 400 billion feet of merch- 

 antable timber in B. C. This esti- 

 mate will be fully borne out, I be- 

 lieve, when the report now being se- 

 cured by the Commission of Con- 

 servation is issued. At the present 

 rate of cutting this would last over 

 two hundred years. But there is 

 growing each year, at least 5 billion 

 feet of which only from one and a 

 half to two billion is being used. 

 The balance is a total economic loss. 

 This is a waste which, by all the 

 rules of conservation, should be 

 stopped and if it is possible to stop 

 it, the Government of B. C. is going 

 to stop it. We cannot allow such 

 an economic waste, if it is possible 

 to avoid it, especially when Canada 

 and the Empire is at war. The same 

 sentiment which prompts Canada to 

 support the Empire with her men 

 and money should stimulate those 

 who do not go to fight the Empire's 

 battle on the fields of Europe to 

 economize, conserve and utilize the 

 nation's natural timber resource, so 

 that the forests of Canada can play 

 their part in making prosperity and 

 so help financing the war. The only 

 way is to find larger markets for 

 our forest products. 



Problems of Selling. 

 We have logging and milling 

 facilities to harvest the total annual 

 growth. In fact, overproduction and 

 sacrifice prices are an old and al- 

 most chronic trouble in the lumber 



industry of North America. In ad- 

 dition to overproduction we have 

 had decreased consumption. The 

 per capita consumption of lumber in 

 North America has always been 

 very high — far higher than in Eng- 

 land or Europe in general — and 

 probably it is only to be expected 

 that it would decrease somewhat as 

 time goes on. Many substitutes are 

 now on the market, and for some 

 purposes some of them are unques- 

 tionably superior to wood. But in 

 many cases they are sold by aggres- 

 sive advertising and salesmanship 

 for purposes where wood is far su- 

 perior; for example, substitute roof- 

 ing material versus British Columbia 

 Red Cedar Shingles. Lumbermen 

 are now beginning to see that in 

 order to keep its proper place in the 

 markets, wood must be advertised 

 and sold more efficiently, and better 

 service given to the consumer. 



Another factor which has reduced 

 the consumption of lumber is the de- 

 crease in building per capita. Some 

 claim that a good deal of this money 

 has gone to buy automobiles — in 

 other words, many people are buy- 

 ing new automobiles instead of new 

 houses. The great increase in ten- 

 ant farming is given as another rea- 

 son. The general business depres- 

 sion of the past year or so, and the 

 effect of the war on foreign markets 

 and shipping all aggravated the 

 situation. 



I cannot go into detail concerning 

 what we are doing to secure in- 

 creased markets in the time at my 

 disposal, so I will just briefly men- 

 tion the various lines that the work 

 has taken. 



Coniinissioners at Work. 

 (1st) Mr. H. R. MacMillan, Chief 

 Forester of B. C, was sent on a 

 world tour by the Department of 

 Trade and Commerce. He is at pre- 

 sent in India having visited the 

 United Kingdom, France and South 

 Africa and will visit Australia, New 

 Zealand and China before he re- 

 turns. 



