Canadian Forestry Journal, July, igi6. 641 



Classifying Lands in New Brunswick 



Three field parties are now at 

 work in New Brunswick, in connec- 

 tion with the forest survey and clas- 

 sifiication of Crown lands. The pro- 

 ject is under the supervision of P. Z. 

 Caverhill, provincial forester, sub- 

 ject to the general direction of the 

 Minister of Lands and Forests. The 

 size and importance of the under- 

 taking is indicated by the fact that 

 the Crown lands in this province 

 comprise 10,000 square miles and 

 return a direct revenue to the pro- 

 vincial treasury averaging more than 

 half a million dollars annually from 

 timber alone, in addition to large 

 revenues from the sale of hunting 

 and fishing privileges. 



The best agricultural lands are 

 naturally along the valleys, and it is 

 here that settlement has, for the 

 most part, been concentrated. In 

 some cases, however, settlement has 

 extended to the uplands. Some of 

 these lands are well suited for agri- 

 culture, but in other cases the set- 

 tlers have apparently been attracted 

 primarily by the timber or by the 

 desire merely to locate a home and 

 have settled on lands not fit for per- 

 manent agricultural use. 



There is considerable pressure up- 

 on the provincial government for the 

 opening up of new lands, to provide 

 for immigration and for the surplus 

 native population. An important 

 feature of the Act of 1913 was the 

 provision for a classification of soils, 

 with the object of directing settle- 

 ment to lands really suitable for 

 farming purposes. This wise pro- 

 vision is now being carried out, and 

 the result will no doubt be to reduce 

 to a minimum the location of set- 



tlers upon non-agricultural lands. 

 The evil efifects of such settlement 

 may be seen in every province of 

 Canada, and are due to the previous 

 absence of a definite policy for the 

 directing of settlements to lands 

 realy fit for that purpose. 



The province of New Brunswick 

 has undertaken to avoid the recur- 

 rence of such tragedies as were dis- 

 covered by the Commission of Con- 

 servation to have been enacted in 

 certain portions of the Trent water- 

 shed, Ontario, where settlers were 

 allowed to locate on poor, sandy 

 soils, then chieflv valuable onlv fo'r 

 their timber. With the removal of 

 the timber and the exodus of the 

 lumbering industry, these settlers 

 have been left stranded, with no op- 

 portunity to make a comfortable liv- 

 mg, and faced with the necessitv of 

 constantly lowering their standards. 



The work of land classification in 

 New Brunswick is being carried on 

 in connection with the timber esti- 

 mate and mapping of Crown lands. 

 The country is covered systematical- 

 ly and examinations of 'the soil are 

 made at regular intervals. Beyond 

 any doubt, the result will be the 

 opening up of new lands for settle- 

 ment and the establishment of new 

 communities under conditions which 

 will ensure comfort and a reasonable 

 standard of living. This in turn 

 will mean a permanent increase in 

 the population of the province, by 

 providing for the native surplus as 

 well as for immigrants from the 

 outside. 



The Commission of Conservation 

 has co-operated with the provincial 

 government in laying the foundation 

 for the land classification work, 

 through the detail of several experts,' 

 who have just returned from an ex- 

 tended trip to the several localities 

 m which the field parties are now 

 operating.— C. L. in "Conservation " 



