Canadian Forestry Journal, November, iqi6 



801 



were not willing to impoverish their 

 own supply by meeting too large a de- 

 mand. Hence the British Government 

 were forced to look for their supply 

 within their own forests, and it was 

 these conditions which led to the crea- 

 tion of "The Home-grown Timber 

 Committee." as we have it to-day. This 

 committee was to procure timber when 

 and where it could in the British Isles, 

 and for this purpose they were given 

 the right to confiscate. 



Solving the Labor Problem. 



Upon large tracts of timber being 

 procured, the Committee were met by 

 the problem of getting labor for its 

 manufacture. Men were brought 



from Ireland, and operations started 

 in various parts of the country. Ger- 

 man prisoners and coolies were also 

 employed in this manner, but the de- 

 mand continued to be greater than the 

 supply, and it was at this point that 

 the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion, 

 of which the writer is a member, was 

 brought into existence. As has been 

 already stated in your columns, this 

 battalion came over to Britain last 

 spring, bringing with them a full 

 equipment of mills, waggons, cant 

 hooks, axes, etc., all ready for the bush. 



Part of the men and equipment were 

 started working in England, and the 

 remainder came to Scotland, of which 

 it is our intention to speak. 



Forests Clean as Parks. 



One of the first things which strikes 

 the "Colonial" upon entering the 

 wooded areas here is the absence of 

 windfalls and underbrush, the ground 

 being clean like a park. This condi- 

 tion is largely due to the fact that 

 areas are reforested ones, and the 

 stands for the most part are as yet far 

 from mature, and are in a very healthy 

 condition. The stands are composed 

 nearly altogether of lodgepole pine and 

 larch. One can see some white birch 

 and a little white fir in certain locali- 

 ties. 



On one of the operations where cut- 

 ting is being carried on the stands are 

 of two ages, i.e., sixty-five and one hun- 

 dred and fifty years. At sixty-five years 

 of age the pine may give ten thousand 

 B. M. per acre, considering the close- 



ness of utilization, while the hundred 

 and fifty year-old stand should yield 

 about twenty thousand B. M. One 

 hundred and ten trees to the acre seems 

 to be about the average. 



Larch Reproducing Well. 



The larch appears to be reproducing 

 very well from its own seed, but of 

 course there is no reproduction from 

 the pine. The British Government 

 advances money to landlords for re- 

 foresting purposes at a rate of 2y2%. 

 Approximate cost of reforesting an 

 acre in Scotland is £25, and from ob- 

 servations on an operation it can be 

 seen that at sixty-five years of age an 

 acre will give an approximate return of 

 £50. Taxes on wooded areas must 

 be considered in any such computa- 

 tions. 



Methods of Felling. 



In felling, the trees are of course cut 

 close to the ground, and every part of 

 the tree is utilized. The trunk is cut 

 in the following manner: Up to 10" in 

 diameter and 9' in length for ties 

 (sleepers) ; from 10" down to 7" in di- 

 ameter for logs ; from 7" down to 3" in 

 diameter for pit props, and from 3" to 

 1" for firewood. Thus to the "Colo- 

 nial" mind a logging operation here 

 seems more like a land-clearing opera- 

 tion at home. The standing timber 

 has been purchased on a basis of a shil- 

 ling per cubic foot, which figures out 

 to $25.25 per thousand feet board mea- 

 sure. 



Ties are in the greatest demand at 

 present, as they are used not only for 

 railroads but also in the moving of the 

 big guns, being laid end for end, also 

 in setting up these guns. They are 

 cut 9' in length, and are sawn in several 

 sized faces, from 6". A tie is worth 

 $1.75 in England to-day. Pit props, 

 which are used in mining operations 

 at the front, and for erecting wire en- 

 tanglements, and in the revetment of 

 trenches, are not in great demand at 

 present, in comparison with ties. 



Scotch Sazv Mills. 



The Canadians mills in use are semi- 

 portable ones, cutting from 20 to 30 

 thousand feet B. M. per day. A Scotch 

 mill, with a capacity of from 3 to 5 



