FOREST PLANTING IN CANADA 127 



area to administer, as yet only very sparsely populated, it wotdd seem 

 that the rational and common sense poUcy — ^the one best suited to the 

 conditions — ^is the very one which the Forest Branch are at present 

 following. That is, to devote the chief attention to proper protection 

 and utilization of the present crop. Such care is in any country the 

 first consideration in connection with the production of a new crop. 

 However, in at least a verj- large part of British Columbia, as has been 

 stated, this is generally aU that is necessary to ensiu-e a new crop. 



It may be concluded then that artificial reforestation is neither 

 necessary nor, relatively speaking, desirable, over the major part of 

 British Coliunbia to-day. 



Summary : 



1. Forest planting in British Columbia is sUviculturaUy possible. 

 Hardwoods may be grown as well as softwoods. 



2 . Forest regeneration in British Coltunbia is financially practica- 

 ble, and possibly also forest planting. 



3. But forest planting is now, in general, neither necessary nor 

 the most profitable way to spend time, energy, or money in British 

 Columbia. 



Planting in Alberta. Saskatchewan and Manitoba 



A ver\- large percentage of the land in the accessible portions of 

 these three provinces is treeless and chiefly valuable for agriculture. 

 Aside from the relatively small areas of forest reserves east of the 

 Rock\- mountains, the question of planting relates therefore principally 

 to the farming sections. Here, land values are too high to justify the 

 use of large areas of cultivable lands for commercial tree planting. 

 Also, climatic conditions are unfavourable to this class of investment 

 on a large scale. The high winds cause excessive evaporation, which 

 in turn tends to prevent the ideal height growth which would be a large 

 factor in a commercial tree-growing enterprise. 



Again, the relative dryness of the climate and the extremes of 

 temperature, besides making for relatively slow growth, greatly limit 

 the choice of species suitable for prairie planting, so that the range 

 of choice is limited for the most part to species that are not regarded 

 as particularly suitable for the production of lumber. 



Another factor is the relatively high cost of establishing a forest 

 plantation, for commercial purposes, on the prairies, — ^where the na- 

 tural conditions are tmfavourable, — as compared with the cost of bring- 

 ing lumber from the virgin forest, or even of estabHshing a new forest at 



