Federal Forest Service.—In 1899 the for branch• of the Department of the Interior was established and at once inaugurated a pol- , icy of increasing the number and extent of the' forest reserves upon Dominion lands. In 1900. arrangements were made to furnish settlers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta with young trees and cuttings far the planting of wind-breaks and shelter belts. The settler entered into an agreement with' the foresty branch to set aside a certain portion of his land as a permanent tree plantation, to care fully prepare his ground according to the direc tions of the tree inspectors, to plant the trees upon their arrival and to cultivate and keep the ground clean until the trees are large enough to take care of themselves. The species planted vary according to, the climatic and soil conditions, and the great success • of this co operative plan is proved b•jr the• fact that approx imately 95 per cent of the 20,000,000 trees and cuttings sent out to settlers are growing and are a source of great pleasure and comfort to all who have taken care of them. In 1906 the work of surveying and mapping the Dominion forest reserves was begun, and has been carried on ever since. In 1908 the work of collecting forest statistics from reliable sources was begun. In 1911 the work of examining and reporting upon lands thought to be suitable for forest reserves• was begun, and has resulted in the creation of new reserves and additions to those .already existing. In 1914 forest pro duct laboratories were established at McGill University, Montreal, where exhaustive tests are being carried on to determine the technical properties of Canadian timber and the solution of problems connected with the pulp and paper industry. So rapidly has this most useful branch of the public service grown that in May 1914 it had 159 officers on its payroll, and the expenditure for the year amounted to $571,798. Since, the outbreak of the European War many of these highly trained men have enlisted for over-seas service and the work of the branch is considerably hampered.
Other Forest Services.—In 1909 the prov ince of Quebec began the extension of its for est service by employing two technically trained foresters as advisers, and most encouraging progress has been made all along the line of developing a progressive forest policy.
In 1911 the British Columbia department of land and forests established a forest branch which has made remarkable progress in the scientific administration of her forest lands and in malting known to the world the extent and variety of her forest resources. Just before the outbreak of war the staff consisted of 170 mem bers (including female clerks and stenogra phers), but the enlistment of 60 of its most effi cient members badly crippled the service.
In 1912 the Canadian Pacific Railway Com pany established a department of natural re sources and charged the forestry branch with the responsibility of administering timber lands owned by the company and the investigation of problems arising out of the use and preserva tion of timber for railway purposes.
In 1909 the Dominion government estab lished a commission of conservation, which has devoted much time and energy to the pro tection of timber from fire, the making of forest surveys and the lessening of logging waste.
In 1912 the Dominion Railway Board intro duced regulations for the protection of forest properties traversed by the steam roads, and the number of fires has been greatly reduced. In every province of the Dominion fire has done a tremendous amount of damage to stand ing timber and impoverished the soil for the growth of future wood crops. Now, however, the Federal and provincial authorities have realized the seriousness of the situation and effective steps are being taken to reduce the number of forest fires. Measures are also being taken to reduce the waste incident to logging operations; such as the waste in tree tops the disposal of logging slash, etc.
Forestry Education.— In 1900 the Cana dian. Forestry Association was organized for the purpose of getting the public to realize the necessity of conserving the forest resources of the Dominion. Its membership is now 4,350 and it has been largely instrumental in securing advanced legislation in the matter of increasing the forest reserve area, a more careful admin istration of timber lands and protection from fire.
In 1907 the faculty of forestry was estab lished in the University of Toronto for the purpose of giving young men a thorough tech nical training along lines required for the scientific management of forest properties, and in 1908 a similar department was established in the University of New Brunswick at Fred ericton, N. B. A couple of years later a depart ment of forestry was established in Laval University, Quebec, and plans are now under way for the establishment of a course in forest engineering in the University of British Colum bia, Vancouver, B. C. Nearly all the graduates of these schools are employed by the Dominion forestry branch, the British Columbia forestry, branch, the Quebec forest service, the New Brunswick forest service, and the forest serv ice of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
Estimate of Standing During the summer of 1909 and 1910 a reconnaissance survey was made of the forest lands of Nova Scotia. For the mainland the estimate is placed at 94,496 acres of virgin and semi-virgin coniferous timber with a stand of 1,133,952,000 board feet; 1,318,964 acres of moderately culled conifers carrying 3,956,892,000 board. feet; 3,192,175 acres of severely culled and burned timber estimated at 3,192,175,000 feet, and 1,138, 730 acres of green barrens and burns with 341,619,000 board feet. This makes a total of 5,744,365 acres with 8,624,638,000 board feet of coniferous timber. In addition to this there is the island of Cape Breton, which is estimated to have an area of 1,535,000 acres under forest more suitable for pulpwood than for saw tim ber. For the whole province the coniferous saw timber is approximately 10,000,000,000 feet, and the hardwoods probably amount to 5,000, 000,000 feet.