Canadian Forestry Journal, August, igi6 



679 



couver, being without blemish from 

 stem to tip when shaped and pol- 

 ished. The sticks supplied for the 

 other spars, while not so large, were 

 equally free from defects. Other 

 large timbers of varying lengths and 

 diameters were being assembled for 

 shipment by rail, and the collection 

 formed an impressive exhibit of 

 British Columbia forest possibilities 



and mill equipment. The big tim- 

 bers came from the limits of the 

 British Columbia Mills, Timber and 

 Trading Company, Limited, at Rock 

 Bay. It is not generally known that 

 at one time the company furnished 

 the majority of the mast and spar 

 timber for use in the British navy, 

 and so large are its reserves that no 

 difficulty would be experienced to- 

 day in duplicating the business. 



Tree Planting to Overcome Sand and Snow 



The railways of Canada are tak- 

 ing an increasing interest in the 

 planting of trees and shrubs to se- 

 cure better control of drifting snow 

 and drifting sand, both of which in- 

 terfere seriously with the operation 

 of trains. 



East of Montreal near Vaucluse, 

 in Quebec, light drifting sand has 

 given trouble to the Canadian Paci- 

 fic railway since the very thin sod 

 was plowed up, writes B. M. W. in 

 "Conservation." Hot boxes resulted 

 to rolling stock and passengers suf- 

 fered from dust. The ordinary 

 right-of-way fence was covered by 

 the sand, and cattle could stray out 

 on the track. Snow fences were 

 used to some advantage, but in a 

 bad season these would be almost 

 covered up. 



In 1915 a number of grasses, in- 

 cluding Brome, were planted but 

 perished from the heat, which is ex- 

 cessive on these exposed sand beds. 

 This spring, 3,500 cuttings of Cot- 

 tonwood (Populus deltoides) and 1,- 

 000 one-year transplanted jack pines 

 were planted. An examination made 

 after the trees and cuttings were in 

 the ground a month showed that ap- 

 proximately 95 per cent were mak- 

 ing good progress. 



Cottonzvood Used. 



The Cottonwood was placed in 



rows two and one-half feet apart, 



the distance between the rows being 



four feet. The jack pine was planted 



in rows six feet apart, distance be- 



tween the rows five feet. The dis- 

 tance from the last row to the centre 

 of the track is about 150 feet. All 

 the planting parallels the track. 



It is hoped that the vigorous 

 growth of the cottonwood will pro- 

 tect the jack pine until such time as 

 the latter can take care of itself. If 

 the results prove satisfactory, other 

 situations along the company's line 

 will be planted in the near future. 

 The unusual amount of rain which 

 has occurred this spring and early 

 summer has contributed very ma- 

 terially to the prospects of success. 



For a permanent snow fence 

 which would grow rapidly and 

 have sufficient foliage, 6.000 Nor- 

 way spruce and 15,000 caragana 

 were planted. The former were five- 

 year transplants, of from 20 to24 

 inches height, of heavy sturdy crown 

 and well-developed root system. 

 The caragana were from 30"to 48 

 inches in height and about three 

 years of age. The caragana, as well 

 as 1,500 lilacs used in mixture for 

 snow breaks, are from the nursery 

 of the company at Wolseley, Sask. 



Planting Methods. 



The following methods of plant- 

 ing were carried out: Where the 

 distance from the track to the right- 

 of-way fence is over 50 feet, a "stan- 

 dard" break was put in, viz., one 

 row of spruce was planted 8 feet 

 apart, and in front of this, caragana 

 were placed two and one-half feet 



