Canadian Forestry Journal, May, ipi6. 



541 



to plant, and how to prepare the 

 ground for the following year's 

 planting. It is all right to expend 

 money on the general Conservation 

 Commission to enthuse citizens the 

 Dominion over on what our natural 

 resources are and how they should 

 be conserved, but the practical 

 working end of the problem should 

 not be neglected. Give Saskatchew- 

 an forestry farms and practical men 

 to meet progressive farmers, and in 

 a few years the treeless, wind-swept 

 prairies would be changed to a park- 

 like country, with trees on every 

 farm." — Saskatchewan Farmer. 



Does Skilled Protection Pay ? 



During 1915 there were 1,031 for- 

 est fires reported by the Forest Fire 

 Protection Staff of British Colum- 

 bia. Of these, only 317 were classi- 

 fied as "cost fires." This is a con- 

 siderable reduction as compared 

 with the previous season when 

 there were 639 "cost fires." The av- 

 erage cost of each "cost fire" was 

 $61, whereas in 1914 the average 

 cost was $219. About two-thirds of 

 all fires originated on privately 

 owned lands not classed as timber 

 lands. The most prolific source of 

 forest fires was carelessness by 

 campers and travellers which ac- 

 counted for 305 fires, or 29.6 per 

 cent, of the total. 160 fires, or 15.5 

 per cent, are classified as of "un- 

 known cause." Brush-burning ac- 

 counted for 267 fires or 29.9 per cent. 

 Railway operations were responsible 

 for only 82 fires or 7.9 per cent. 

 Lightning started 100 fires or 9.7 

 per cent. Railway construction was 

 responsible for 17 fires or 1.7 per 

 cent. 28 fires are classified as of 

 incendiary origin being 2.7 per cent, 

 of the total. Forest fires during the 

 year covered an area of 30,310 acres 

 as compared with 42,549 acres dur- 

 ing 1914. They destroyed 144,220,- 

 000 feet of timber as compared with 

 102.804.000 feet B. M. during 1914. 

 The damage during 1915 is estimat- 

 ed at $88,043. as compared with 

 $52,852 during 1914. 



Origin of Wood Pulp Paper 



A writer in the "Newcastle Chron- 

 icle" says that an old hornet's nest 

 caused Dr. Hill, of Augusta, Maine, 

 to make the discovery. A friend 

 and neighbor had told him there was 

 not enough cotton and rags in the 

 world to supply the newspapers and 

 other publications with their raw 

 material. That was about forty 

 years ago, and Dr. Hill took a 

 hornet's nest to the superintendent 

 of a nearby paper factory and asked 

 him, "Why can't you make paper 

 like that?" They sat down together, 

 took the nest apart, analysed it care- 

 fully, and decided that if a hornet 

 could make paper out of wood, man 

 ought to be able to do as much. The 

 doctor discovered that the hornet 

 first chewed the wood into a fine 

 pulp. They decided to make ma- 

 chinery and water do what the 

 hornet's mouth did. Such was the 

 beginning of the wood pulp in- 

 dustrv. 



Spring Fires 



Midwinter is the most dangerous 

 time in regard to fires in buildings 

 but so far as our forests are con- 

 cerned, spring is one of the worst 

 times. The dead leaves of last sea- 

 son and the dead twigs and branches 

 on the ground are more brittle and 

 dry iji the first few days of spring 

 just after the snow leaves than at 

 any other time in the year. Those 

 who go into the woods for any pur- 

 pose are. therefore, cautioned to be 

 careful with their camp fires and 

 with matches. They should also see 

 that any cigar or cigarette stubs are 

 dead out before they tlirow them 

 away. Observance of these precau- 

 tions will do more for conservation 

 than many meetings and conven- 

 tions ten years from now and this 

 duty is urged on all patriotic citi- 

 zens. The fact that Canada is at 

 war makes this duty all the more 

 important. — (Publicity Bulletin of 

 Dominion Forestry Branch.) 



