Canadian Forestry Journal, June, 1016. 



571 



(2) To the absence of poachers. 



(3j To the numerous places of 

 refuge which are offered by the bad- 

 ly cultivated or uncultivated fields. 

 Thus in the south on account of the 

 scarcity of farm workers who are all 

 mobilized the grape vines have be- 

 come vertiable bushes. The birds 

 are not being disturbed in their mat- 

 ing and the rearing of their broods 

 by farming and especially by copper 

 sulphite treatment cif the soil have 

 made of these vines real breeding 

 places. 



In- other places various delays in 



the farm wirk have saved many a 

 brood. 



(4) The boys, being employed at 

 work in the fields, no longer eniplo}^ 

 their holidays in wandering i'nto the 

 commons and the woods to dislodge 

 the birds from their- nests. 



( b) The high price of food has in 

 the villages reduced greatly the 

 number of dogs. As we know these 

 animals scour the country all day 

 destroying many nests. A corre- 

 spondent tells me that he now hears 

 but rarely the barking of dogs wan- 

 dering far from the villages. 



New Fire Laws for the Prairies 



The Provinces of ^Manitoba. Sas- 

 katchewan and Alberta have now 

 brought into force ''acts for the pre- 

 vention and suppression of fires." 

 The design of the acts in the two 

 latter provinces are practically iden- 

 tical and in their general outlines 

 agree with the legislation of ]\Iani- 

 toba. 



The Manitoba Act. however, ap- 

 pears to have a closer application 

 to the question of fires set on the 

 borders of Reserves which frequent- 

 ly do heavy damage to timber 

 growth. A ranger on a lookout 

 tower in one of the [Manitoba Re- 

 serves counted no less than o^ fires 

 in progress at one time, and all were 

 within striking distance of the tim- 

 ber area. 



Under the [Manitoba Act. as re- 

 cently amended, a municipality 

 must appoint three fire guardians. 

 These officers are made responsible 

 for the investigation of conflagra- 

 tions of all kinds, and the munici- 

 palitv is bound to apply adequate 

 penalties to guilty parties. A Pro- 

 vincial Fire Commissioner, Mr. 

 Lindback. has wide powers under 

 the Act. 



Such a law should result in bet- 

 ter protection for the reserves 

 against fires working in from set- 



tlers' lands. Heretofore the rang- 

 ers have had no legal recourse even 

 with evidence of flagrant careless- 

 ness in land clearing operations. 

 Xow it will be obligatory upon the 

 municipality to control its fires and 

 to answer for damage done to all 

 forms of property, forests included. 



The Acts of Alberta and Saskat- 

 chewan do not appear to go as far 

 as the Manitoba Act in placing the 

 nnus of blame on municipalities in 

 which a fire originates. The secre- 

 tary-treasurer of the municipality is 

 made the responsible local officer 

 under the Provincial Fire Commis- 

 sioner. Section 7 of the Alberta 

 Act, however, should bring forest 

 fires within the purview of the Act : 



"The local assistants of the Fire 

 Commissioner shall investigate or 

 cause to be investigated in a general 

 way the cause, origin and circum- 

 stances of every fire occurring with- 

 in the limits of their respective juris- 

 dictions by which property has been 

 destroyed or damaged with a special 

 view to ascertaining whether such 

 fire was the result of negligence, 

 carelessness, accident or design." 



Clause 2 : "Such investigation 

 shall be begun within three days not 

 including' Sunday of the occurrence 

 of the fire." 



