Canadian Forestry Journal, August. iQiO 



669 



The General Fire Situation 



Reports received from railway 

 fire patrolmen in Ontario refer to the 

 gratifying immunity from serious 

 forest fires along the lines under reg- 

 ulation by the Dominion Railway 

 Board. The last week of July, 

 which did such damage in the Clay- 

 belt, was responsible for insignifi- 

 cant losses in timber along the pri- 

 vate-owned lines, although patrol- 

 men reported some apparently se- 

 vere fires working toward the tracks 

 in places. Who can doubt that the 

 favorable railroad record at such a 

 period is largely due to efficient, 

 well-supervised patrol? 



Reports received by the Associa- 

 tion from the 12,000 square miles of 

 territory in Quebec patrolled by the 

 St. Maurice Forest Protective Asso- 

 ciation indicate an excellent record 

 thus far. AMiile the rangers have 

 had a number of fires to fight, the 

 areas burned have not been exten- 

 sive. The value of preventive work 

 has again been manifested. Many 

 fires have been encountered at the 

 edge of the St. Maurice territory, 

 originating beyond its borders, and 

 these have given trouble. Rain fall 

 has been heavy in Quebec this year. 



Twenty-five fires have been put 

 out on the Lower Ottawa Forest 

 Protective Association's limits. Most 

 of them were on old burns where 

 young gro'wth had barely taken 

 hold. Berry pickers were undoubt- 

 edly the cause of some of the fire 

 trouble, due to unextinguished camp 

 fires. One fire was fought at Chel- 

 sea ; as far as can be learned it origi- 

 nated with a cigarette thrown from 

 a vehicle passing along a highway. 

 Little trouble with settlers' fires has 

 been encountered on the Lower Ot- 

 tawa Association's areas this season. 

 Vegetation was unusually heavy and 

 dampened ground fires effectually. 



A report from Frederiction, N.B., 

 states that no serious fires have been 

 reported during July on the Crown 

 Lands of New Brunswick. 



Protection of Trees 



Li many cases, when running wire 

 fencing, it is advisable to attach it 

 to trees, instead of setting down 

 fence posts to carry it. If the fenc- 

 ing is attached directly to a growing 

 tree the wnre is soon overgrown and 

 embedded in the wood, injuring, 

 and, in many cases, killing the tree. 

 To fasten the wire fencing to the 

 tree, and at the same time protect 

 it from injury ,a strip of board, an 

 inch or an inch and a half in thick- 

 ness, and three or four inches wide, 

 should first be securely nailed up- 

 right to the side of the tree. The 

 fencing should then be fastened by 

 staples to this strip. In this man- 

 ner very little damage is done to the 

 tree, and the wire fencing may be 

 removed at any time. — (Conserva- 

 tion.) 



An Important Move by N. T.R. 



Arrangements have been made 

 wit hthe National Transcontinental 

 in regard to the patrolling of their 

 right of way through tlie territory 

 of the St. Maurice Forest Protective 

 Association by which the railroad 

 will pay one-third of the cost of the 

 labor and will pay for gasoline and 

 oil consumed by the power speed- 

 ers, the Association and the Pro- 

 vince dividing the balance of the 

 cost. 



A special uniform has been pro- 

 vided for all the St. Maurice rangers 

 this 3'ear<^ in the form of a green 

 shirt, with "Protection Forest" in 

 red letters across the chest. 



