communication. An ounce of prevention is worth a thousand pounds 
of cure in forest fire work, and speed is the essence of prevention. Speed 
in the detection of fires, in their incipient stage, speed in calling help, 
speed in reaching the scene of danger. At one time in 1916 sixty 
fires burned simultaneously on the areas of one of the well-organized 
Quebec forest protective associations. But every fire of the sixty had 
been promptly seen by rangers on patrol or from lookout towers, and, 
by using the telephones, men were rushed to all centres of trouble. 
Every fire was extinguished. Not one was allowed to grow big and get 
beyond human control. Prompt detection usually means prompt 
extinction. But detection requires the afore-mentioned mechanical 
aids, without which the best human labor is heavily handicapped. _ 
The advantages The advantages of combining under a single department 
of centralized of the Government the work of supervising cutting 
authority. operations, fire ranging and timber scaling are very 
clear. The three sets of duties have to do with Government respon- 
sibilities over Crown forests. The ranger would find occupation on fire 
protection work during the time of fire hazard, roughly from April 15th 
to October 15th. He could then be transferred to timber scaling or 
utilized in various field undertakings of the Forest Branch. Control of 
cutting would, of course, require several technical men, whose services 
could be utilized also for forest surveys, mapping, land classification, 
construction of fire protection trails, telephones, etc. This would 
mean continuous, year-round employment for the main body of 
employees, with the prospect of promotion as they became more efficient. 
In any line of work transient jobs do not attract the best class of men 
and this is markedly true of forestry employment. 
