the Supervising Rangers up to the end of October. The result has been satisfactory in the highest degree, the revenue having increased in the several agencies immediately after the inception of the system to the extent of from 50 per cent., and in one agency even 400 per cent.

Instead of agents dealing with accounts for timber dues as formerly, all returns, together with Rangers' reports, are transmitted to the Department, where the timber limit operations and cutting on special lots of land are checked, and all accounts made up, and transmitted to agents for the collection of the dues and transmission of the same to headquarters as collected.

Wood-rangers have standing instructions to report generally on any wanton or special waste, when such has been observed in connection with lumbering operations, and in cases of licensees allowing standing pine through which fire has passed to become lost instead of utilizing it before it is destroyed by what is termed the boring-worm." A few cases of waste transpired some years ago by licensees arranging with jobbers to cut saw-logs on their timber limits, the logs, by agreement, to be up to a certain standard of quality-all logs falling short of the standard fixed being rejected and left in the woods-and an attempt made to leave the rejected timber out of the returns; but through the vigilance of the Wood-rangers of the Department such transactions were nipped in the bud, and abandoned when parties found that they had to account for and make payment to the Crown on every tree cut down. The only real waste of timber in lumbering is in connection with the manufacture of square pine and board (or octagonal) pine timber, especially the former, in squaring which and in the rejection of the upper portion of the tree, where the limbs begin, fully one-third of the tree is wasted, viz: Onesixth of the best of the timber in siding off to reach the square and one-sixth in the upper part of the tree which is left in the woods, but which, if drawn, would be valuable at a saw-mill, where it could be cut into various qualities of lumber, either fit for domestic use or export. The waste referred to has been noticed by this Department for years past, but under regulations past and present, and the tenure under which licenses to cut timber are held and have been held for many years, it is found difficult to uproot a system which has obtained so long, and in which there are so many vested interests and so much capital involved.

[7.] Mode of making and of verifying returns.

NOTICE TO SAW-MILL OWNERS AND LUMBERMEN.

DEPARTMENT OF CROWN LANDS,
Toronto, June 1, 1876.1

The class of timber referred to in this notice comprises the following: Saw-logs 16 feet in length and under. Round (or flatted) timber of more than 16 feet in length, usually designated "Long Timber," or Dimension Timber."

Boom Timber, got out expressly for the purpose indicated by the designation.

MEASUREMENT FOR CONTENTS BY SCRIBNER'S READY RECKONER."

All returns of saw logs, long timber, dimension timber, and boom timber, whether cut on private or public lands, must be made to the Department of Crown Lands or its agents, on or before the 1st day of June in each year, and must be sworn to by the person who superintended the cutting of such logs, &c., and also by the culler or culfers who measured the same; the returns must give the number of pieces of logs with their respective lengths and diameters, and the number of pieces of long timber, diimension timber, and boom timber, the length of each piece of the three kinds of timber last mentioned with the diameter of each from bark to bark at butt and top.

Separate returns must be made of the operations of each chantier 2 and of each jobber; and where it is desired to have logs, &c., passed free as cut on private lands, or on lands under settler's license, separate returns under oath must be made in each case, showing the number of pieces of logs, &c., and their respective dimensions as above specified, and the lot or part lot on which the same have been cut.

When all returns of any lumbering establishment have been received and checked, the affidavit of the proprietor or proprietors, or his or their manager, or principal book-keeper, as to the total number of pieces of saw-logs, &c., cut by or for him or them, or acquired from others (whatever lands the same may have been taken from) during the season of operations for which returns are made, will be required to be furnished to the Department or its agents. The Department or its agents should be

Although bearing this date this notice has been issued since August, 1872, for the guidance of mill owners in making returns of yearly operations in the woods, whether on public or private lands. Equivalent to the wood camp, as used in the United States.

advised by each saw-mill owner, lumberman, or operator when final returns have been furnished.

Attention is called to the 16th and 17th clauses of the "Crown Timber Regulations," which make it imperative that every facility, assistance, and information be afforded to the Department and its agents, by all parties operating in timber, saw-logs, &c., in the investigation of the extent and nature of such operations, and the examination of books and verification of returns.

Blank forms for the above returns may be had on application to the Department or any of its agents.

Assistant Commissioner.

The forms used in connection with these returns are as follows: Culler's Return of measurement of boom and dimension Timber, showing for each piece its length, and diameters at the butt and top.

Affidavit as to timber cut on special lots, in which it is declared that the lines have all been run around the said lot, and are perfectly visible, and that the deponent knew their locality. He testifies that he counted the timber on the land, and knew from such knowledge of the lines and counting of the timber on the land that he did actually cut and make on and draw from the said lot during the preceding winter the full quantity mentioned.

Affidavit of the owner of "Private Lands," or persons holding lands under "Settler's License." This is to be taken by the owner of any land for which Settler's License is held, or lands under patent, on which it is intended to pass Saw-Logs or Boom Timber as cut thereon, and contains a similar declaration as to knowledge of the lines and of the quantities cut.

Affidavit of the Foreman respecting timber cut under his direction upon private lands, or under Settler's License, with like declaration of knowledge of lines and of quantities, specifying the latter.

Affidavit of person in charge of each lumbering operation in which Saw-Logs or Boom Timber has been made, in which the deponent declares that he caused a correct account to be kept of the number of pieces of each description of Timber made, which was measured by the person named; that he had seen and examined the books of the person employed as Culler, and his account of the measurement of said SawLogs and Boom Timber, and feels certain that the account given by him, and which is annexed, is a true and faithful account of the number of pieces of Saw-Logs and Boom Timber, and their respective lengths and diameters (the diameters of Boom Timber from bark to bark at top and butt being given), made at the place mentioned during the winter specified. Affidavits of Culler, of total operations of season of any Foreman or Jobber, to be taken after counting and measuring the Saw-Logs and Boom Timber made during the winter, and affirming that the return includes the whole amount.

The Culler's Return of Saw-Logs is a blank form for entering the number of pieces, and the contents in feet, board measure, of logs, 13, 16, and-feet long, and for each inch in diameter, from 7 inches to 40. All round, flattened, or dimension Timber over 18 feet long is measured as Boom Timber.

The Return for Timber and Staves is arranged for entering, in separate columns, the Township, Lot, and Concession; the number of pieces of White Pine, Red Pine, Elm, Ash, and Oak; the number of pieces of Standard and of West India Staves; number of pieces of other wood, and a description of other timber, with an affidavit of completeness and correctness as to time, quantity, and kind.

A similar Return is required concerning Saw-Logs and Boom Timber, showing of each the number of pieces and of feet (linear), and of Square Timber the number of pieces and the contents in cubic feet.

The form of Clearance Crown Timber Office presents, in duplicate, a statement for each separate class of timber, the amount cut from Private Lands, from lands under Lumbermen's License, in trespass, and under Settler's License on Free-Grant Permissions.

In addition to these returns, the accounts kept by the government employés in charge of the booms and slides afford, upon the Ottawa and its tributaries, a further means of checking the returns. great point is to ascertain what has been cut by parties on other lands "The than those under license, as they are sure to report and clear all timber under authority of license, because any excess of timber over the quantity cleared and covered by sworn returns is looked upon as cut in trespass, and treated accordingly, at Quebec or other port of destination for shipment." This can only be secured by a vigilant discharge of duties on the part of the Rangers and other agents employed by the Department.

[8.] Timber Regulations established under the Land Act.-General State

66

ment.

In Chapter 23 of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, entitled "An Act respecting the Sale and Management of Public Lands," the Lieutenant-Governor in Council is authorized to make such orders as are necessary to carry out its provisions, according to its obvious intent, 'or to meet cases which may arise and for which no provision is made in this act." Such Regulations are to be published in the "Ontario Gazette," and in such newspapers as the Commissioner of the Crown Lands may direct, and must be laid before the Legislative Assembly within the first ten days of the next session. In the absence of express provisions in respect to timber upon the public lands sold under this act, the authority above mentioned has, under the general clause granting discretionary power in unenumerated cases, established the following:

[9.]

Settlers' License Regulations.

[Established by Order of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Govenor in Council, dated 8th February, 1870.]

Actual settlers on any of the Public Lands, who purchased such lands from the Crown prior to the 1st July, 1867, and which are not yet paid for in full, may obtain License to cut the Timber standing or growing on such lands, and dispose of the same on the following terms and conditions:

1. The applicant for License must have been a bona fide occupant of the land and a resident thereon on the 1st July, 1867, and must have resided continuously on the same from that date until the date of the application for such License.

2. At the date of such application a quantity of such land, in the proportion of at least four acres to every one hundred acres, must have been cleared and had under crop, with a habitable dwelling-house erected thereon of the dimensions of at least sixteen by twenty feet.

3. All applications for Licenses are to be made to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Toronto, in the form A hereunto annexed,' and to be accompanied by a License fee 4. All Licenses granted under these Regulations are to be issued by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, or by any officer or agent by him authorized for that purpose, in the form B hereunto annexed, and are to be subject to the fourteenth, fifteenth, six

This form specifies the location and extent of land on which the privilege of cutting is asked, an agreement to comply with the regulations, and an affidavit declaring actual residence, size of buildings, and the amount of land cleared and under crop. of $4.

The terms of the License are in conformity with the above regulations, and specify the nature and extent of improvements as described in the application. All the rights of the Government are reserved in case of a failure to comply with the terms of the License or a fraud in the application, the Logs or Timber to be in such cases subject to forfeiture.

teenth, and seventeenth sections of the "Crown Timber Regulations," which sections shall apply to such Licenses and to the Timber and Logs cut thereunder, and to such Licensees, their agents and servants, and to the lands mentioned in such License.

5. All dues collected on Timber or Logs cut under any such License, less ten per cent. for collection, and less also any expenses which may have been incurred by the Crown Lands Department, or its agents, in verifying the quantity or description of such Timber or Logs, or the extent of the improvements on the land, shall be applied towards the payment of the land, on completion of the conditions of settlement; should any surplus of said dues remain, after payment in full of the land and issue of patent, the same to be paid over to the Licensee, his or her heirs or assigns.

6 The Licensee and the person who purchased the Timber or Logs, cut under such License, shall, on or before the 1st day of June next, after the cutting of said Timber or Logs, make to the Crown Timber Agent of the locality where the same were cut, or other authorized Agent, or to the Crown Lands Department at Toronto, a return, upon oath, in the form C hereunto annexed,' of the quantity and description of all kinds of Timber so cut, and in the case of Saw-Logs, the number of pieces and contents in feet, board measure. Such return to be in addition to any other return that such Licensee or purchaser may have previously made.

7. Any false or untrue statements as to occupation or residence, or as to improvements on the land, or as to the quantity or description of Timber or Logs cut thereon, or any non-compliance with these regulations, or regulations hereafter made, shall subject the License to cancellation, and the Timber or Logs cut thereunder to forfeiture.

In respect to the operation of these Regulations the Commissioner of Crown Lands, in the communication already mentioned, says:

Regulations under which purchasers of lands from the Crown, being actual residents on their lands with certain improvements, were allowed to sell the timber growing on their lots, the value of the timber sold to be paid into the Department and applied (less ten per cent. for collection) in payment of the purchase money due the Crown, were inaugurated by the Government of the Province of Canada in 1860, and obtained until confederation, when they were held in abeyance in Ontario till February, 1870, at which latter date they were renewed in a slightly modified form, licenses being subsequently granted to settlers on lands purchased from the Crown prior to 1st July, 1867, on the conditions of 1860, as to residence and improvements, the dues paid on the timber, not the value, to be paid into the Department and applied as before, surplus money over payment of the land to be paid over to the licensee or his heirs or assigns.

In view of the Order in Council of 27th May, 1869, under which a settler is allowed to sell Pine necessary to be removed in process of clearing his lot for cultivation, license rate of dues being chargeable thereon, and the fact that the Pine has probably all been taken from lots purchased so long ago as 1867, and in a position to be placed under "Settler's License," very few of such licenses have been applied for during the past few years, and the necessity for them is obviated in a great measure by the practice of the Department since the date of the Order in Council in 1869, which has been, with respect to timber other than Pine, to allow bona-fide settlers on lands sold under the Lands Act of 1850, and under the Free Grants Act of 1868, to sell such other timber as may be on their lots free of any dues, whether the timber had been cut in the process of clearing or otherwise; in fact the Settlers' License Regulations may now be said to have become obsolete and unnecessary.

[10.] Reservation of Pine Trees upon the Public Lands sold within a Timber License.

ORDER AND REGULATION.

[Made under "The Public Lands Act of 1860," by Order of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, dated 27th May, 1869.]

All Pine Trees growing or being upon any Public Land hereafter to be sold, and which at the time of such sale, or previously, was included in any Timber License,

This form contains a description of the improvements and a sworn statement of the quantities and descriptions of Timber that had been cut upon the licensed premises during the previous season, in the following form:

shall be considered as reserved from such sale; and such land shall be subject to any Timber License, covering or including such land, in force at the time of such sale, or granted within three years from the date of such sale; and such trees may be cut and removed from such land, under the authority of any such Timber License while lawfully in force; but the purchaser at such sale, or those claiming under him or her, may cut and use such trees as may be necessary for the purpose of building, fencing, and fuel on the land so purchased, and may also cut and dispose of all trees required to be removed in actually clearing said land for cultivation, but no pine trees, except for the necessary building, fencing, and fuel as aforesaid, shall be cut beyond the limit of such actual clearing before the issuing of the Patent for such land, and all pine trees so cut and disposed of (except for the necessary building, fencing, and fuel as aforesaid), shall be subject to the payment of the same dues as are at the time payable by the holders of licenses to cut timber or saw-logs.

All trees remaining on the land at the time the Patent issues shall pass to the Patentee.

Provided, however, That this order shall not apply to any land to be sold as mining land, under "The General Mining Act of 1869," nor to land to be sold to any Free Grant Locatee, under the regulations or Order of Council, bearing date this day.

Land is not sold for settlement within a Timber License without first asking of the licensee whether he has objections to such sale. His assent, it is assumed, will only be given because there is no pine on the lands—or at least not in such quantity as to make it an object for him to retain them in his license; and, on the other hand, that his objection would be based upon the fact that there are pine trees of value thereon, which he desires to remove under his license. The licensee is, therefore, asked to inform the Department as nearly as practicable the number of pine trees, if any, at present standing on his lands, for which a patent is asked, or cut down on the ground and made, or to be made, into square timber, dimension timber, or saw-logs, or other commercial commodity.

The applicant for a patent is also required to furnish the affidavits of two disinterested and reliable parties, having a personal knowledge of the fact, that there are not pine trees growing or being thereon-or should there be pine trees, an estimate of the contents of such trees, the parties to have some experience in lumbering matters. The affidavits are required to state, in case that pine is on the land, the number of trees standing, and the number, if any, cut down and on the ground made or to be made into square timber, dimension-timber, saw-logs, or other commercial commodity; giving, if possible, the approximate contents in feet (board measure) or cubic feet of standing trees and trees cut down; and also an affidavit that they have no interest whatever in the issue of the patents, nor in lumbering operations of the licensee of the limit.

The experience of the Department of Crown Lands in the selling of lands under License is given in the following statement:

It frequently happens that purchasers and locatees of lands under the Free Grant Act (see 8th section) and purchasers under the Land Act of 1860 (in both cases see Orders in Council of 27th May, 1869, already referred to), having their settlement duties completed before the prescribed time had elapsed within which patent may not be issued, apply to the Department for patent, the licensee within whose limits the lands are situated giving his consent thereto and allowing the lands to be immediately withdrawn from license; in such cases the Department is disposed to issue patent on the usual verification of completion of conditions of settlement as respects improvements on the land, holding that the laudable ambition of a settler to be in possession of the fee-simple of his land should not be discouraged, but in allowing patent to issue the Commissioner examines into and carefully considers the grounds set forth by the applicant for granting his request, which must not rest solely on the plea of completion of settlement duties, and with the view of securing the revenue from fraud by collusion between the locatee or purchaser of the land and the licensee before patent is issued, affidavits are exacted as to the fact whether there is or is not pine of any considerable quantity on the lot, otherwise a bargain as to the timber, to take effect after the issue of patent, might be entered into by which the Department would lose the dues on the pine remaining on the land; that is to say, it might be so