Canadian Forestry Journal, December, igi6 



861 



How Long Will Our Timber Last? 



A Frank Discussion of Forest Problems in Quebec Province 

 With An Outline of Needed Reforms 



What is the timbered area? 



How much of it is accessible? 



What is the annual consump- 

 tion? 



How long will the timber last? 

 To what hazards is the timber 

 exposed? 



How is it being exploited? 

 What are the wastes? 



How can the stand be convert- 

 ed and improved? 



Mr. Ellwood Wilson. Chief of the 

 Forestry Division of the Laurentide 

 Company, Grand'Mere, Quebec, was 

 asked to appear before the Dominions 

 Royal Commission at Montreal to give 

 information as to the forest conditions 

 in Quebec Province. Mr. Wilson's 

 memorandum is of such interest and 

 value, containing original data and of- 

 fering candid opinions on many fea- 

 tures which are commonly passed over, 

 that the Forestry Journal has con- 

 densed portions of the manuscript, 

 omitting the statistical basis. 



The statement of Quebec conditions 

 refers to that part of the province lying 

 north of the St. Lawrence River. The 

 total area timbered is about 303,855 

 square miles. The area accessible at 

 the present time to points of consump- 

 tion is 147,247 square miles and the 

 inaccessible area 101-722 square miles- 



The total amount of available stand- 

 ing timber, states Mr. Wilson, is 

 363.603,200 solid cords of wood or 

 483-592,256 stacked cords. The memo- 

 randum proceeds : 



Growth in Virgin Forests. 

 "Now timber is like gold, or iron, or 

 coal, or any other natural product, in 

 that there mav be immense quantities 



of it in any given locality, but if it 

 costs more to get it to market than it 

 can be sold for, it is for the time being, 

 or until the price rises sufficiently, in- 

 accessible — and this must be taken into 

 consideration when estimating timber 

 supplies. 



The approximate total consumption 

 for spruce and balsam for 1915 was 

 about 3.050,281 cords, which would 

 give us at the present rate of consump- 

 tion enough available timber for 150 

 years. Our consumption has • in- 

 creased- however, 290^^ in the last 

 seven years, and if we allow only 10% 

 per annum, at the end of 55 years all of 

 the timber at present available would 

 be used up. Now here a very impor- 

 tant question comes up — and that is 

 the amount of growth in a forest each 

 vear. At first thought it seems that 

 a forest of growing trees will increase 

 the amount of timber from year to 

 vear. and this is true of forests which 

 are under control, or of an area which 

 is growing trees for the first time, but 

 it is not true for a so-called virgin for- 

 est which has been growing for an in- 

 definite number of years, and in which 

 trees of all ages and different species 

 are found. Here nature has reached 

 a state of equilibrium and the amount 

 of growth each year is balanced by the 

 amount of decay. So that if we have 

 areas stocked by nature .and there is a 

 certain amount of timber on them, there 

 will be practically no more on them at 

 a given number of years than there is 

 at present. This, however, does not 

 hold good for areas which are lum- 

 bered, for here- the cutting out of cer- 

 tain trees gives an opportunity for a 

 new crop, and this crop will continue to 

 grow and produce timber until the 

 land is fully stocked again, provided 

 the conditions are right for the re-seed- 

 ing of the proper species and their 

 growth into mature trees- 



