Canadian Forestry Journal, May. igi6. 



529 



The difficulty arises in securing 

 practical realization of the fact that 

 the forest is a crop, and that its 

 utilization, on non-agricultural soils, 

 should always be so regulated as to 

 provide for the establishment of a 

 new crop, and of successive crops, 

 indefinitely. 



This is particularly important as 

 to the lands which have thus far 

 received least consideration, namely, 

 those which, because of their great- 

 er accessibility to transportation, 

 have been logged off first. On such 

 lands, stumpage values will always 

 be higher than on lands less acces- 

 sible, and it is therefore especially 

 desirable, from every point of view, 

 that the natural reproduction should 

 be protected from fire and given an 

 opportunity to reach maturity. In- 

 stead, the opposite has been the gen- 

 eral tendency, and not only indivi- 

 duals, but the country as a whole 

 must in the long run pay the penalty. 

 To a far greater extent than is the 

 case at present, we should be draw- 

 ing upon interest, in the form of 

 natural forest growth, rather than 

 upon capital, stored up in the virgin 

 forest. If this were done, our great 

 forest resources could never be de- 

 pleted. 



The Menace of Brush. 



Brush-disposal, as a fire-preven- 

 tive measure, is a feature to which 

 some attention has been given, par- 

 ticularly in the west, and some pro- 

 gress has been made. However, the 

 lumber industry as a whole is still 

 suffering from depression, and the 

 general level of prices is still too 

 low to permit general attention to 

 the matter of brush disposal over 

 the country as a whole. It is be- 

 lieved, however, that even at the 

 present time, particularly in the east, 

 it is practicable to a materially 

 greater extent than is conceded by 

 most operators. At least a begin- 

 ning could be made, in many cases, 

 by a more thorough clean-up of in- 

 flammable debris in the vicinity of 

 settlements, camps, railways, wag- 



on-roads, logging roads and streams, 

 and along the edges of cutting areas. 

 Such action would greatly reduce 

 the danger of fires causing material 

 damage, and would afford vantage 

 points from which to control fires 

 of accidental origin. 



One of the most essential features 

 of a forest-protective organization 

 is adequate supervision over the 

 fire-ranging staff. Taking the coun- 

 try as a whole, there is no question 

 but that a very great deal of money 

 is being wasted through failure to 

 provide enough supervision, and of 

 the right kind, to ensure that a dol- 

 lar's worth of protection is secured 

 for each dollar expended on the fire- 

 ranging staff. 



A Co-operative Model. 



In this connection, the provincial 

 governments of eastern Canada, and 

 the great majority of limit-holders 

 as well, should take careful note of 

 the admirable results that have been 

 secured by the St. Maurice and the 

 Lower • Ottawa Forest Protective 

 Associations, and should profit by 

 their example. These two Associa- 

 tions have been able to secure the 

 best degree of protection against fire 

 that is to be found over any large 

 area anvwhere in eastern Canada. 

 These results have been secured by 

 the adoption of a thoroughly busi- 

 ness-like administration, of which 

 close supervision at all points is con- 

 sidered as absolutely essential fea- 

 ture. 



Beyond any doubt, also, the mat- 

 ter of securing a thoroughly com- 

 petent personnel in the fire-ranging 

 staff is of the utmost importance. It 

 is hardly conceivable that any one 

 should seriously question this. Yet, 

 in no single government fire-ranging 

 service in all of Canada, so far as is 

 known, are the appointments of fire- 

 rangers clearly and definitely based 

 upon the one ideal of merit and fit- 

 ness for the position. In every 

 single one. Dominion as well as pro- 

 vincial, the patronage system holds 

 the reins, and party advantage is, as 



