Forestry Notes. 



71 



Forestry ... As one passes from east to west, the habitable 



IN Canada. zone rapidly widens from a narrow strip on the inhos- 

 pitable Labrador coast, fifty to a hundred miles north 

 of the St. Lawrence in Quebec, gradually growing through the prairie 

 regions until in British Columbia it stretches one thousand miles, almost 

 to the Arctic Circle. Stunted, almost worthless timber in Labrador, 

 immense forests of medium-sized conifers mixed with hard woods in 

 Quebec, large spruce and great forests of white pine in Ontario, tree- 

 less prairies and forests of poplar through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, 

 Alberta, and, finally, the magnificent forests of British Columbia to the 

 Pacific. . . . 



. . . The wonderfully advantageous position of Canada from the 

 standpoint of conservation. All lands in Canada, as originally in the 

 United States, belonged to the Crown, and while in the latter, the Gov- 

 ernment after the War of Independence, in the effort to encourage 

 colonization, parted with them carelessly and recklessly, by wise fore- 

 sight, Canada acted differently. Here the land is divided into three 

 broad classes farming land, forest, and mining land, over which the 

 Government retains all rights, as well as over water powers, hunting 

 and fishing. An ideal situation were it carefully carried out, and it is, 

 as a general rule. Land fit for settlement is sold on very low terms 

 and easy payments to the settler, who must, however, clear a certain 

 amount of land each year and build a house. Licenses to mine, to cut 

 timber and to hunt and fish are sold to the highest bidder at auction, 

 and so long as he pays his annual rental and compHes with the Govern- 

 ment regulations, he is left in undisturbed possession and may sell his 

 rights or will them to his children. The Government demands an an- 

 nual rental of $5.00 per square mile per year, the protection of the forest 

 from fire and a tax of $1.30 per thousand feet, board measure, when the 

 timber is cut. At first the Government protected the forests from fire 

 itself, charging a fire tax, but this protection was so poor, owing to 

 inefficient organization and too much politics, that the licensees peti- 

 tioned to be allowed to protect their own lands at their own expense, 

 and this request was acceded to. The licensees choose their own rang- 

 ers, who are commissioned by the Government. This system has worked 

 well, but has been further improved by all the owners of licenses form- 

 ing an association, which protects the limits. The association is the 

 largest on this continent, representing over 7,000,000 acres of timber 

 lands. Rangers on gasoline speeders patrol the railway Hnes, following 

 all trains, and crews of two men each, with tent, canoe and camping 

 outfit, patrol the rivers, which are the only highways through the wilder- 

 ness. One lookout station has been built, and the coming season will 

 see several more finished and a number of miles of telephone lines also. 

 The cost for the season has been a little more than one-quarter of a cent 

 per acre, and it is hoped that a more liberal appropriation can be se- 

 cured. . . . — Elwood Wilson, in American Forestry. 



