Forest regeneration on certain cut-over pulpwood lands in Quebec [microform]

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Commission of Conservation

CANADA

cost M ITTEE O.V FORESTS

Forest Regeneration on Certain

Cut-over Pulpwocd Lands

in Quebec

BY

C. D. HOWK, Ph.D.

Faculty oj Forestry
Vnitersity of Toronto

Reprinted from the Ninth Annual Report of the
Commission of Conservtltion

OTTAWA--1918

Commission of Conservation

CANADA

COMMITTEE ON FORESTS

Forest Regeneration on Certain

Cut-over Pulpwood Lands

in Quebec

BY

C. D. HOWE, Ph.D.

Faculty of Forestry
University of Toronto

Reprinted from the Ninth Annual Report of the
Commistion of Conservation

OTTAWA -1918

Forest Regeneration on Certain Cut-over
Pulpwood Lands in Quebec

II Y

V. I). I!u\vi.. I'll. I).
Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto

BMF()RIC describing certain investig.itions on ciif-ovrr pulpwfiod
lands in yueher, I d«'?' " to make a fmv remarks upon the
general situation. The necessities of war ,\\\ drivi ; home to us
the importance in our national economy of natural resources,
among which our timber resources take a leading place. There
never was, and, for years, never will be, a time when it is more
important for us to know what our timber resources really are, not
only in terms of board fee^ and cords, ')Ut also in terms f)f their
application tt) new uses.

For thirty years, in meetings similar to this, we have been
discussing the management of our timber resources, but what have
we accomplished ? Of many facts, fundamental in the efficient
management of the timber resources of the country, we are woefully
ignorant. For exam|)le, what do we really know about the extent
of the timber and pulpwood resources of Ontario and Quebec,
though these provinces, combined, contain the largest timber-
pro{luciia' area in Kastern Canada? Where else is there such a
large timbered area, containinij so many valuable species, with uch
wond'jrfui tran>nortation facilities, both natural and artificial, and
so near nUtive . to the great markets of the world.'

This grtn' .mfx'r-tiroducing area has been right in our back
yard ai) thest irs. tt now has along its borders a population of
5,000,0(K». vvh( K consumption of wood products is increasing every
day; and just »*«* the fence are the populous Eastern States, with

their urgent
constantly- v
really made <
bilities and tin
Quebec? Do w

for I in.i<!ian wood protiucts. In the face of
irkets and increasing demands, > e we
■ical, sustained effort to determine the possi-
aiities o. the tifnber resource of Ontario and
now whether this area can meet the demands
now being made u^ '-n it, to say nothing of the much greater demands
in the future' T' 'Jnited States is thoroughly alarmed over its
declining pulpwooti nply, we are so ignorant of ours that we do

; iuH.>-.

COMMISSION OK ( () N S I; K \ A T I O N

not know wluthcr to be ularmiil or not. Is thai an rnviahle
situation for an inti-lllKent ami proKrvitsive |h>o|iU'?

Survey of
Pulpwnod
Rctourcn

The Proiu.km Analyzed

There are at least three definite lines of enquiry to
Ik- pursued in ronntrtion with the prohlcm of our
pulpwood sujiply. In tlie first |)lace, there should
be a definite stoik-takinK of the <ommer{ ial material now available.
We must know what we have . -fore we can make any sensible
plans for the future. Not every acre, no-* even extensive areas,
shoulil be aitually rruised, for the results would not justify the
ex|M'nse; but sufficient cruising should be done and enough tlata
({athere<l to permit of reliable estimates being made. Such wn .
has alre.idy been done by the Commission of Conservation in Brit Ii
Columbi.i, and it is under contemplation for Ontario.

I'.stiniatt's of the av.iilable commercial pulpwo' d supplies in the
province of ' .-bee have been made, but, a yet, there has been
only a partial mcthxlical stock-taking, <U'spite the fact that (Juebec
is the most important pulpwood area in Canada, supj)l\inK over
one-half of the pulpwood produced in the Diminion. Nearly half
of the pulp mills in Canada are snuated in Quebec. With her long
southward-flowing rivers, extending into the very he.irt of the
pulpwnod regions, with her water and rail connections, (Juebec is
much nearer the ultimate market for most pulpwood pnxlucts than
any other province with an equ.d supply of material. Indeefl, this
very accessibilitv increases the clanger of early exhaustion of her
supply. Logically and economic.dly, Quebec should b- the first to
institute a thorough-going investigation of - p.csen. supply of
pulpwood.

Once we have taken 'ho init.^i step of ascertaining
OrowUi ^"^ much pulpv .00 I wc have in Eastern Canada,

its distribution and •' • accessibility, we can, with a
known rate of consumpt.-ni, make a 1 as^nable prediction as to the
duration of the supply. ' je, however, we are dealing with living
wood substance, which has the wonderful power of regenerating
itself each year, we must take another factor into consideration,
namely, the rate of growth or, in other words, the annual accumula-
tion of new wood fibre in our spruce and balsam forests. This
brings us to our second line of enquiry, viz. a detailed study of
growth and production, involving the making of stem analyses on
carefully selected areas. To be sure, this is little less than drudgery;
it is tedious, heart-breaking work, especially if done in 'fly' time;
but it is only this kind of investigation that can furnish data by

RECK N I. K A r ti)N OK I' f I. I" 0|) l./»\l»s «

whi' h a ratio iH-twit-n thv annual acnu.i" •.>« cf wimil fihre and
the .mount annually rrmovid hy th«' piilpwiMxl n|)«-raiinii-., tan be
<st,'il>li-<h<-ri Thi-* ratio is i sintiil '■ ■< r»M«iti iMv a«(nr.it<- prf<1ir-
tior. of the (Juration of the |)ul|>w(<o<l !«u|)|)ly.

^j^„,,, "lif rcplaifmtnt <if tin- pulpw<K)d n-n ..(i by any

CI Pulpv .,»i aKfncy in brounht alH)Ut in thf first inHtancf by the

^'^*** Ki'owth of thf small non-ion nurtial tr»VH alrtady

on thf arc.". Thew, in turn, btcome of commcrrlal f*i/t', thry are
eventually cut, and their place must be supplied by nev individuals.
New spruce and balsam must establish themsdves in the fofst if
the sup|>iy of pulpwoo«l is to be continued beyond on«' generation
of trees. Therefore, the third lino of iiKpiiry t<i follow in order to
solve our problem, is the rate of re(>rodut tion of the pidpwood
sjK'cios on the cut-over pulfiwnod binds. If tli. lo)<KinK operations,
or the firc'i which tiftc'n follow them, chan^i' contlitions to such an
extent that spruce and balsam cannot maintain tlitirselves in their
former con;merci'il (piantities, th^- supply of pt ,)Wood on thost
areas cannot be maintained.

Growth and Reproduction in St. Maurick Vallky

Investigations to determine the rate of replacement of pulp-
wood material by growth and by reproduction on cut-over lands,
were carried out by the Commission last summer. 1 hrough the
generous CO-' '"'ration of the Laurentide Company and its fonster,
Mr. F-llwood Wilson, the work was carried on in the holdings A this
company in the lower portion of the St. Maurice valley in Qu< r-ec.

The forest here contains patches of pure hardwoods
PredOTTiinant *'"'' patches of pure conifers, but mostly they occur

in mixed stands. Numerically, bals.im leads in the
mixture, with 30 per cent, yellow birch comes next with 20 per ce.it,
and spruce, which, by the way, is practically all rt d spruce ,tnd not
the same as the black spruce, as is generally supposed, makes up
20 per cent of the forest. The minor species arc cedar, 7.3 i)er cent ;
sugar maple, H per cent; paper birch, 3 \wt cent; hemlock, 1.4 per
cent; and beech, 1.3 per cent. This tvpe of forest occupies between
two-thirds and three-fourths of the region studied. The old birna
and the swamps were neglected.

It must be borne in mind that the results and conclusions
herein stated refer only to this particular forest type and are in no
way to be construed as applying to other portions of the St. Maurice
' alley, or of Quebec.

COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION

Survey by
Strip Method

As already stated, the chief object of the investiga-
tion was to determine the condition of these cut-over
lands with respect to the degree of regeneration and
the rate of growth of the present pulpwood-producing sfiecies, namely,
spruce and balsam. Sample plots were made by the strip method.
These strips, run on a compass line, were one-half chain wide and
varied in length from 1 to 80 chains. All the trees on the strips
above 8 inches in diameter were calipered. Those from 8 to 4 inches
in diameter were classtd as poles, while those 4 inches in diameter
down to trees breast high, were designated as saplings. At the end
of every second chain, a square rod plot was marked out and the
number of seedlings on it counted, any tree less than breast high
being considered a seedling without regard to its actual age. The
number of seedlings per acre was calculated on the basis of these
square rod plots. The ages of the seedlings in relation to the tim;^
of the cuttings were also determined. The stumps on the strips
were also calipered and the age of the cutting determined. The
total area of the sample strips on which the trees of all sizes were
thus measured, counted, and classified, comprises 00 acres.

The growth studies were made for the most part on four sample
plots varying from 1/10 to 1 acre in size. Every coniferous tree
larger than a seedling on these plots was cut and a complete stem
analysis made of it. In this manner, the rate of growth of some
2,000 trees was determined.

The original forest in the southern portion of the
St. Maurice valley was undoubtedly dominated by
pine, probably, for the most part, white pine. We
found, on the average, G pine stumps to the acre still standing.
This is the average of all the sample plots taken in all the various
conditions. Only 8 of the sample plots failed to reveal at least
one pine stump, and on some, thf pine stumps ran as high as 20
per acre. Considering that the first cutting of pine in this region
took place between GO and 70 years ago, and that there has beea
practically no cutting of it for 30 years, thus allowing .30 to 70 years
for the stumps to decay, it is quite remarkable that the average of
all conditions --hould yield G stumps to the acre still recognizable,
as pine. Undoubtedly, we are safe in assuming that the original
number of pine trees was consid?ral)ly more than 5 per acre.

However, I do not think of the original forest as
BladTporest having been a pure stand of pine. Although pine

was biologically dominant, it was outnumbered by
other species. I picture the original forest as having a distinctly
two-storeyed crown cover. The lower storey was a mixed forest of

The Forest
Primeval

REGENERATION OF PUI. PWOOD LANDS

yellow birch, maple, spruce, and balsam, in abundance in the order
named. Towering 50 or 75 feet above this were scattered giant
pine trees from 3 to 6 feet in diameter, from 100 to 150 feet high,
and probably 200 to 300 years old. Had there been only six such
trees to the acre, they would have dominated it, but there were
probably more, but not sufficient, however, to form a complete
crown cover in this upper storey, except on rocky ridges. In the
latter situations we often found from 20 to 30 big pine stumps to the
acre, evidently indicating a pure stand. To one flying over the region
at that time in an airplane, it would have appeared as a black' forest,
that is, one in which the pines predominated over the hardwoods.
Passing To-day the conditions are reversed; it is a 'green'

of the forest, that is, one in which the hardwoods pre-

''^ ' dominate. This change of conditions in the past

50 to 70 years is very interesting biologically, but it also has an
important commercial significance. Those areas which have yielded
enormous quantities of white pine are, commercially speaking,
denuded of that species to-day; only scattered groves on rocky,
inaccessible ridges and elsewhere an occasional tree towering above
the hardwood forest, remain. Nut only this, but of still greater
significance to the future, white pine is not reproducing itself; there
are practically no young trees in the forest. Except on the borders
of lakes, the margins of swamps, and around old camp clearings, we
did not see, under the normal forest cover in our investigations last
summer, two dozen young pine trees. Yet we found old pine
stumps everywhere. 1 can show you areas which once had 20 pine
trees to the acre, but are without even a young pine tree to-day.
Moreover, there are no coniferous trees in the crown cover — only
a solid mass of yellow birch and hard maple.

There are, however, abundant balsam and spruce
ForesfNow ? beneath this crown cover ready to push through
whenever opportunity offers. Note especially that
the areas of which I am speaking have never been seriously devas-
tated by fire, the chief cause of the failure of white pine reproduction
in Canada. Why, then, have these areas changed within the life
time of some of my audience, from a dominant pine to a dominant
hardwood forest? Why did the pine not reproduce itself after
logging and so maintain itself in the forest? The hardwoods were
probably originally more or less suppressed by the pines, both by
shading and root competition. The removal of the pine stimulated
the development of the hardwoods so that they soon filled up the
gaps. The crown cover below the pine was probably continuous
and cast a deep shade. The luxuriant underbrush formed another

i

COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION

Over 100 Years
for Spruce
to Grow

shade-producing layer. These two layers excluded so much light
that the young pine trees could not develop. The seeds doubtless
germinated and the seedlings may have persisted for some years,
but not receiving sufficient overhead light, they were eventually
crowded out by the shade-enduring hardwoods.

These some-time white pine areas were subsequently
cut over for spruce saw logs or pulpwood at least
twice and some of them three times. Our growth
studies show that all the spruce trees since removed by lumbering
operations were present in the original forest beneath the pine
trees. They were at least 6 inches in diameter and about 100 years
old when the pine was cut. Many lumbermen think that the
second cutting on an area is from young trees which have grown
since the last cutting. The area which we are describing has been
cut two or three times in the last 30 years and the youngest spruce
cut was over 100 years old, most of the trees being more than 150
years old. This is the length of time that it takes to make a spruce
forest from seed to pulpwood size, when the spruce grows up in
company with hardwoods.

The situation is somewhat different, however, in the
for Balsam "^' <^3se of balsam. Some of these trees now being cut

for pulpwood were seedlings scattered on the floor
of the original forest at the time the pine was first cut, that is, 70
years ago.

We counted and measured the stumps on all our sample plots.
The spruce stumps averaged 22 per acre. At the present time,
there are 6 spruce trees per acre entering the crown cover and over
70 years old. Therefore, at the time of the first cutting 70 years
ago, there were 28 spruce trees 8 inches or more in diameter on the
average acre. It is interesting to note in this connection, that
according to Mr. EUwood Wilson, forester to the Laurentide Com-
pany, there are 26 spruce trees 8 inches and upward in diameter in
the virgin forests farther northward in the St. Maurice valley. This
result is derived from cruising surveys, totalling over 1,000 acres
and representing about 3 per cent of the area through which the
strips were run.

Thus, you see that the number of spruce trees has been reduced
from 28 per acre to 6, a reduction of nearly 80 per cent, by the
lumbering operations of the past 30 years, the period during which
spruce has been cut for saw logs. Our results show practically the
same number of balsam as spruce trees taken from the average acre,
namely 22, and the number of balsam larger than 8 inches in the
present forest is also practically the same — 6 per acre.

REGENERATION OF PULPWOOD LANDS

Its Economic
Significance

Let us go back and look a minute at the original
in 30 Years'"" forest, a pine forest with a mixed spruce-balsam-
hardwood under-storey, giving the general impres-
sion of a 'black' forest. The pine was cut and did not re-establish
itself; 80 per cent of the spruce and perhaps the same amount of
balsam was cut. The result: within 30 years a 'black' forest was
changed to a 'green' forest; it was changed from a softwood forest,
to a hardwood forest.

Very interesting, you say, but what of its economic
importance? It is this: the pine and spruce and
balsam are valuable, but the hardwoods, the beech,
birch, and maple are, so far as we know, valueless, being too far
from markets to be utilized at the present prices. Let me state the
case from another standpoint. The sum of the basal areas of the
spruce stumps of the various diameters on the average acre is 25
square feet. The basal area of the spruce remaining on the average
acre is only 5 square feet. The volumes of trees are proportional to
their basal areas. This means that the capital stock and, therefore,
the earning capacity of those areas are only one-fifth of what they
were originally.

There is, however, at least one other point which we
should investigate carefully before we become too
pessimistic in regard to the future of these cut-over
lands. I refer to the young growth, the spruce and balsam trees
not yet of commercial size. Are they in sufficient abundance to
insure another crop? If so, when can we expect that crop ? As
already stated, these are the two principal questions we had con-
stantly before us in our work last summer.
Here is the answer to the first question:

Young
Growtii

Species

Seedlings

(trees up

to 1-in.

diameter)

Saplings
(1-in. to

4-in.
diameter)

Poles
(1-in. to

8-in.
diameter)

8-in. to

12-in.

diameter

Total

Per
cent

Spruce

635

3972

180

8

09

161

32

2

30

59

8

1

6
6

770
4198

ii

14.8

Balsam

80.8

Cedar

4.2

Hemlock

0.2

At first glance, this looks very bright for the future,
but let me refer once more to the mortality rate.
There are 635 spruce seedlings per acre, but when
they get up near commercial size, they are all dead but G. The

Mortality
Rate

%

10

COMMISS[ON OF CONSERVATION

Outlook for
Spruce

percentage of loss is still greater in the case of the balsam. In the
beginning, there are 6 times as many balsam as spruce, but when
the balsam gets into its commercial class of 7 inches diameter, there
are only about twice as many.

You may say that the conditions have changed since the '8 in.
to 12-in.' trees came through the forest cover and a larger percentage
of the smaller-diameter classes will survive. You may be right.
Conditions certainly have changed, but my impression is that,
from the standpoint of the spruce at least, and perhaps also for the
balsam, they have changed for the worse. Each logging operation
has stimulated the growth of the hardwoods more than that of the
softwoods. The crowns of the large trees soon fill in the gaps and
a dense thicket of hardwood shrubbery is developed on the forest
floor, thus producing more shade and suppressing the spruce and
balsam still more.

Turning now to the '4-in. to 8-in. diameter' class, we
find 30 spruce and 59 balsam on the average acre.
Twenty of the spruce and 40 of the balsam are
dominant and they stand a good chance of persisting. If they
should all enter the commercial class, they would furnish a sufficient
future supply in time. 'In time' — that is the second phase of our
investigation. When can we expect another crop? Our growth
studies showed that the spruce trees in the '4-in. to 8-in. diameter'
class were from 80 to 100 years old, and those of the '8-in. to 12-in.'
class \, .re from 100 to 150 years old. Therefore, it would take at
least 50 years for the upper range (8 inches) and 70 years for the
lower range of the class (4 inches) to reach the 12-in. minimum
diameter limit for spruce in Quebec. I think you will agree with me
that 50 years is too long for any private concern to wait for another
crop of spruce on these cut-over pulpwood areas.

The present increased demand for woodpulp has led
to a rapid increase in the proportion of balsam used.
So, if our 40 dominant balsam between 4-in. and
8-in. on the average acre reach commercial size, they would represent
a valuable asset. In fact, some in this class are already commercial,
for the minimum diameter limit for balsam in Quebec is 7 inches,
but, unfortunately, the number of this diameter cannot be segr'*
gated from the '4-in. to 8-in.' class. However, according to c
growth tables, it takes only about 10 years on the average for t
balsam to pass from a 4-in. tree to a 7-in. tree; so, within that time
there will be another crop of balsam on these areas.

Several factors, however, greatly reduce the value of balsam.
As is well known, it is much subject to disease and windfall. Mr.

Outlook for

Balsam

REGENERATION OF PULPWOOD LANDS

11

The

Individual's
Viewpoint

Wilson finds that, on the av -age, 44 per cent has butt rot. In
certain conditions, we found as many dead trees as living. One
rarely sees a balsam tree 14-in. in diameter and the great majority
never get beyond 9-in. before death overtakes them. Such small
trees scattered through a mixed stand may raise the logging cost to
a prohibitive point.

Measures for Reforestation — Hardwoods vs. Softwoods

We come now to a consideration of what is to be done with
these cut-over pulpwoud lands. They belong to a provincial
government and are leased by private corporations, chiefly by com-
panies manufacturing paper pulp. They should, therefore, be con-
sidered from the standpoint of both these interests.

First, let us look at the matter from the standpoint
of the private company So far as another crop of
spruce on these lands is cone crned, the case is hope-
less. No private concern could afford to wait 50 years, paying
annual rental for that length of time for the sake of a few cords of
pulpwood, probably less than three, per acre. The amount of
balsam obtainable in the near future is problematical until we
have had an investigation of the rate at which the everywhere
prevalent heart rot is progressing.

If the hardwoods could be utilized without too
Hardw"<^s' '""'^^ destruction of the young spruce, the problem

might solve itself. At present, the market for them
is so far distant and the difficulty of transportation is so great that
they are apparently valueless. However, some investigations of
possibly great significance are about to be instituted by the forester
to the Laurentide Company. Trials are to be made of the applica-
bility of paper birch for pulpwood. There are enormous quantities
of this in Quebec, impeding the growth of the spruce and balsam by its
shade. It may be possible to establish a rotation between the soft-
woods and hardwoods and so keep the land continuously productive.

The possibility of the use of yellow birch for railway
ties is to be investigated. There is no doubt of the
market for this purpose. The question is whether
they can be profitably handled at present prices. If it proves
profitable, the over-topping' birch would be removed and a much
larger portion of the 700 young spruce trees to the acre might deve' "-
into pulpwood.

If these possibilities become actualities, then the private con-
cerns will not be compelled to surrender their leases.

Birch for
Railway Ties

13

C O xM M ! S S I O N OF C O N S E R V A T I

ON

The

Oovcmment

Viewpoint

Since these lands are to be h-ld in perpetuity, it
may be that their productive capacity in terms of
. spruce could be increased by raising the diameter

limit, say to 14 inches. A conclusive determination of this point
would mvolve a careful study of the comparative rate of Rrowth of
the trees 12 and 13 inches in diameter, and whether the increased
growth, if present, or the increased stumpage value, would outrun
the compound interest charges on the extra capital invested in the
12-mch and 13-inch tree. Since, however, at the present time, one
finds only one 12-inch spruce tree on 5 acres and one 13-inch tree
on 10 acres, and since, according to our growth studies, it will be
100 years before the 30 trees per acre in the 4-inch to 8-inch class
will get into the 14-inch class, I have not made the computations
necessary for the discussion of the benefit of raising the diameter
limit.

There is, however, another consideration that seems to me
important in determining the future of the lands from the
government's standpoint. The hardwoods are at present biologically
dominant on these areas. It may be that this is what nature
intends, and that we have too great a handicap to overcome in
trying to put the spruce back by natural means. Certain investi-
gations to which I will refer later, may throw light on this point.
Jt nature is really against us, it might be the best thing to cut every
acre off clean, if a market could be found for the hardwoods, and
start the spruce anew by planting. An experimental plot of this
kind, of 60 acres, has already been inaugurated by the forester to
the Laurentide Company, and its development should be watched
with much interest. It may be that, even heie, the biological
conditions will prove the more favourable to the hardwoods and
keep the spruce always in a subordinate position.
Lack of We talk easily of what we should do with a forest,

fciowf^ge '" *'?'^ particular case we want to increase the pro-

duction of spruce, the most valuable species at
present on this cut-over land, or at least, we would like to restor»»
It to Its former position in the forest. How can this be f* le? One
man says: "Cut heavier, open up the crown cover, let ii -e light."
Another man says: "Make a lighter cut, disturb natural jonditions
as .ittle as possible." The result cannot be obtained by methods so
directly opposed. What is the answer? The answer is that neither
man really knows what he is talking about. Your opinion may be
just as good as mine, because both have been spun out beneath our
hats, or evolved from smoke rings, as we sat in our office chairs.
We have no accurate knowledge, no definite records, no actual

REGENERATION OF PULPVVOOD LANDS

13

measurements by instruments of precision, of the conditions as they
really exist in Canadian forests. I repeat what I said in the bejjin-
ning. We have been discussing the management of our timber
resources for 30 years, but, as yet, we have not the fundamental
knowledge of conditions on which it is necessary to base our plans,
if we were asked to-day io put them into operation. What definite
knowledge we do have as to conditions in which trees grow is bor-
rowed from other countries, even European countries, whose con-
ditions are not our conditions. Is it any wonder that we a ' groping
in the dark? And we will continue to grope iri the dark with this
matter until we obtain actual experimental records of those environ-
mental conditions that fashion a f(jrest.

Let me illustrate what I mean by using the Quebec
Pioce&ute cut-over pulpwood lands as an example. Mere we

have over 700 young spruce trees to the acre growing
beneath a birch-maple forest. Normally, only one per cent of them
lives long enough to make a commercial tree. The problem is to
determine whether opening up the overshading crown cover to
various degrees would bring a larger number of these suppressed
spruces to maturity and thus increase the value of the land to the
owner. To solve the problem, in certain plots, a light cull, a
medium cull, a heavy cull, and a clear cut of the over-topping
hardwoods should be made; and then, a definite record of results
kept iluring a series of years. The intensity of the light exposure
on each plot should be measured periodically; the rate of the filling
up of gaps by the side growth of the tree crnnns should be measured;
the behaviour of the shrubby layer should l»e noted; any changes in
the humus content or in other soil conditions should be studied; the
height growth and the diameter growth of the little spruces should
be measured periodically, at least every fifth year. The trees that
show stimulated growth should be studied very carefully in respect
to their root development, the moisture condition of the soil in
which they are growing, the relative number and the size and vigour
of their leaves.

The necessity of studying the successful trees is
emphasized because they may be the key to the
whole situation. In a nursery bed, certain seedlings
are more vigorous than the majority, making three or four times
as much growth in a season as their companions. Now, it may be
that they are inherent dominants, and once dominant, always
dominant. We know there are inherent dominants among animals,
including man. Why not among trees? If this be the case, why
waste time and money planting any trees but dominants. It may

Inherent
Dominants

I

14

COMMISSION or CONSERVATION

be that those which survive in th. » .
forest are those which are predestinpL^^"^^ for existence in the
The truth or falsity of t^ u'S,^:""" n"'" ''^^' ^'^«'""'"«-
•trated by field experimentation 'n T^J' "T'' "^ ''*^'"K '^-'"on
to be solved, for. if true, it woul ", ' ""■\'. '" "'^ ^'^' Problem
problems as well and render^u L exTeHr"' -"'^'^ "^"^^ -""
lines unnecessary. experimentation alon,, certain

To Determine One more illustration ^t .u

£r°' experimentation Why ! It """""'r '^^ '"'^''^

abundant and so , '^ ''^^ Voung balsam so

forests; why is it more succSulthanT"" '" • ^'^ '°««^'^—
pernor? Unless checked bv teater:."""'''!'^ ''"""P^' ^°'"-
balsam may. i„ time, dominate all our north"''';''"'^^' ^" ^•---.
P.ne forests, no longer spruce fore s but b.I "^"^^^^-no longer

dom.n e of balsam reproduction^ One m!;' "•" • '''""^ ^^^
the balsam can endure more shade than th. '"'' " '" ^''^'^^"^^
says the spruce can endure shading Zu ,' '^T' '^"^ ^""^her
-an makes the first statement In one of^h ^' '''""• ^^-

one in another; and one of our best auth rir '''T'' '""^ '^"^ '^^^
tradictory statements between thlr ^""'^ 'T^^ "^^^es the two con-
l think the importance oflht as a dit" ' ""'^ ^°'''^- ^^^ "v.
has been very much over-e tfmated bvT""'"'"^ ^'''°' '" '^' ^"^^^
■t as a kind of tradition from oj: fathe^ '"' ""'^ '"^'^ ^'^'^^P'-^
fons, without thinking very much abo^fr ? ^'"''^ °'''^'- ^^adi-
't to experimental proof. ^^°"' " ""^' «^'" '^«s. subjecting

the ^^r.T:z%';:::tT^^^ ^" ^^^ ^-. where

hght intensities should be masuredirfT'"' "^*"^''^">' ^"^ ^^e
th.s. but other points need Tnv" " 'ation T 'T^' ^'^^ ""'^
vigour of the roots of the two SedWn \t"'^ ^' '^' comparative
the leaf litter in order to reaTtr. ^ ^'' i"" ^'^ ^^'''^y *« P'^n^trate
to endure drought; the rate .nH K '"7"' ""''= ^''^'^ '^'^^'ve ability
two cases. VVifh da^t o^ is kind t^f "","' '^ '''''^'' ■" ^"^e
of environmental conditions we c^ud 77"" °^ '"^"^"''^^ ^«^-rds
certain methods of lumbering ILour 1 r"'"' ^^"^^'^"^ ^'^V
discourage the growth of spruce WnhJu T"^'^ "^ ''^'•''^'" ^"^
With intelligence the means by w W h tot ''" "t'""'' ''""^^
of spruce pulpwood in Quebec "^^^^ ^''^ Production

and J^rzz r;.r;"^'':irr ""■ '"°" "-^ -"™ -«

REGENERATION OK PLI.I'WOOD LANDS

15

be made the basis of forest breeding. We must not be deterred
because trees grow more sKiwIy than other plants and, di-finite
results are, therefore, slower of attainment. It will require patience,
perscvtrance, and time, but when it is done, we will have reliable
data on which to base our plans and will be in a position to
manage out timber lands intelliRently. We could substitute a real
policy for the trust to-lurk-and-naiure policy of the past, in which
both luck and nati i have been against us. and which has already
reduced a large portion of cur incomparable forest heritage to the
condition of waste lands.