454 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—K. 
Wednesday, August 13. 
25. Joint Discussion with Section M on Forest Problems in Canada. 
(2) Mr. R. D. Crata.—Forest Utilisation in Canada. 
Since the earliest history of Canada the products of the forest have played 
a leading part in her economic development. Fur was at first the most im- 
portant product ; now the various wood products rank second in value only to 
agricultural products. During the years 1917 to 1921 the value of the primary 
products such as lumber, pulpwood, railway ties, &c., averaged $230,000,000 per 
annum. The further manufacture of these into pulp, paper, and other finished 
products added approximately $130,000,000 to the value, $70,000,000 representing 
wages paid to 56,000 workers. Exports exceeded imports by $195,487,000. 
Canada is the principal source of saw-material in the British Empire. The 
annual cut of standing timber is about 2,600 million cubic feet. The lumber 
industry produced 3,800 million board feet of lumber, 625 million lath, and 
2,880 million shingles, valued at $125,906,500. The pulp industry, including 
pulpwood and pulp exported and paper produced, contributed $146,891,481. 
Other products of the forest include 8,600,000 cords of fuel wood, 16 million 
railway ties, 14 million fence posts, 1 million poles, and large quantities of 
mining timbers, piling, &c. 
One-third of the land in Canada, 1,200,000 square miles, is essentially forest 
land, capable under careful management of producing several times the present 
requirements of the industries, but as a result of fire, cutting, and other destruc- 
tive agencies there remains only 456,000 square miles on which the timber is 
of merchantable size. 
The total stand is estimated at 482 billion board feet of saw-material and 
1,280 million cords of pulpwood, fuel, posts, &c., a total of 246,790 million 
cubic feet. 
(b) Mr. E. H. Frytayson.—The Facts and Possibilities of Silvi- 
culture in Canada. 
The paper traces the historical development of silvicultural practice in the 
Dominion forests and on the Crown lands in the various Provinces. It also 
explains the reasons for its absence in those Provinces that make no provision 
for the silvicultural treatment of their forests. The next stage in the pre- 
sentation of the subject describes the silvicultural methods employed at the 
present time in the Canadian forests and in the reforestation of waste lands, 
together with the economic results of such operations so far as they have gone. 
And finally, the paper outlines the advisable courses of development in the 
future on the basis of the necessity of maintaining the continuous production 
of saw-logs, pulpwood, and the minor forest products. 
(c) Dr. A. W. Bortuwicx.—The Cultivation of Canadian Trees 
in other Countries. 
The introduction of tree species indigenous to Canada into European 
countries has added considerably to the value of the forest products of these 
countries. The value of Canadian species such as the Douglas fir and the 
Sitka spruce lies not only in the excellence of their timber, but also in their 
rate of growth and in their proved adaptability to British and Continental 
silvicultural conditions. 
Among the pines, the lodge-pole pine is a most promising species. Character- 
ised by hardiness to climatic conditions, non-exacting as to soil, and the utility of 
its timber. If the right race or type can be obtained it will prove to be a tree 
that will grow rapidly and produce timber of utility on sites where other species 
would prove to be uneconomic. 
Abies grandis is the most promising silver fir as regards Britain for economic 
cultivation. T'suga albertiana shows excellent growth and quality of timber, 
and it appears to have a pronounced adaptability for growth on peaty soils. 
Pinus strobus is excellently adapted to our silvicultural conditions, and it would 
produce timber of high technical value, but unfortunately the stem-blister rust 
meantime renders it useless as an economic unit in our list of forest trees. 
