[3.] On the Timber Resources of British Columbia. Mr. H. J. Combie, District Engineer in charge of surveys for the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia, was examined in March, 1878, before the Select Standing Committee on Immigration and Colonization in the Dominion Parliament with reference to the resources and capabilities of British Columbia, and made some statements that have interest in reference to the timber resources of that Province, which we present below. We reduce to narrative form, the information scattered through several pages of questions and answers. "The country is generally mountainous, but between the two great ranges of mountains-the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains-there is a high plateau which is deeply seamed with valleys. The country is not subject to fogs, and not to any great extent to heavy dews. A very small proportion of the plateau is available for agriculture, but more for pasturage. The plateau averages 3,000 feet above the sea, and the tops of the hills rising above it are covered with timber. The valleys are fit for cultivation, but the portion above that and below the timbered tops of the hills not fit for agriculture would amount to two-thirds of the plateau. In the interior, or bunch-grass country, there is very little timber. There are some parts of the valley of the Lower Frazer which are suited for settlement, but difficult to clear on account of the size of the timber-chiefly Douglas fir. The trees are generally cut ten feet up from the ground to avoid the swell near the root, and their diameter at the place where cut is sometimes eight feet. There are a great many trees of this size, and from this down to 4 feet. On the best land many of them extend from 60 to 100 feet before reaching the branches. None of the timber is sawn until a vessel arrives with a bill of the various sizes required. It is generally exported to Australia. Some is sawn into boards, and a large portion into scantlings, some of which are 12 by 18 or 18 by 24. There are not many small trees as the large ones overshadow the undergrowth. On the Lower Frazer there are ridges covered with smaller timbers which are not as yet taken up. This timber is mixed with poplar and other kinds. "There are only two saw-mills in British Columbia at the present time, both at Burrard Inlet. In October, 1877, there were eleven vessels loading there at once from these two mills, which were sawing and supplying the vessels as quickly as they could stow it. So far the timber has been cut within a short distance of the waters of Burrard Inlet, seldom more than a mile. The saws used are circular, one running above the other, each 6 feet in diameter, so as to make one cut, the saws running so as almost to touch. Up to 1874 the logs were drawn by oxen, over skids, a great many oxen being required, as there is no snow, but since that time they use a traction engine. "The timber on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains is of the same character as on the cascades, but not so large; still it is large enough for use in commercial purposes, and as much as the country will require for many years." In answer to questions Mr. C. remarked that the manufacture of lumber would not be profitable unless orders were first received. They bring the logs into booms and keep them lying until they receive an order. He had seen only one ship-load of spars, which went to the Admiralty. It is understood that one load is supplied yearly for this use. There is also some very fine timber on Vancouver Island of the same class. It is somewhat like the balsam of Canada, but gummy and very hard. On the northern part of the coast, near Skeena River, a kind of cedar grows with a very close fiber and durable, but in very limited quantity. There is no demand for timber of small size, and the cost of clearing lands of heavy timber is more than their value. The timber is chiefly evergreen with some soft maple and small birch, both white and yellow. There is also an alder tree that reaches a diameter of eighteen inches. It is the only wood that makes a pleasant hardwood fire. There is also a scrubby kind of red oak growing upon Vancouver Island, but it is of no particular value. The arbutus tree also grows upon that island to a large size, but it has no commercial value. Mr. P. O'Leary, when questioned upon the timber of British Columbia, stated that on the Frazer River and along the coast there was much large timber, in fact one great forest extended along the sea shore for some hundreds of miles. There is much timber on Vancouver Island, but generally not of so fine a quality as that on the main land. The timber from Burrard Inlet is shipped to Honolulu, Mexico, South America, China, and Australia. Much timber is sent to San Francisco, but the principal part across the Pacific. In an inquiry by the Select Standing Committee on Immigration and Colonization in 1879, the Hon. A. Bunster, M. P. of British Columbia, in answer to questions concerning the timber resources of British Columbia, mentioned the superior qualities of the Douglass pine, especially for shipbuilding, in which it was used for masts, deck planking, ship timbers, outside planking, and knees. Besides the two principal mills on Burrard Inlet there were one at Nanaimo, Mr. Saywar's at Victoria, one at New Westminster, and four others in various parts of the province-in all ten. Out of these but three or four large ones furnished lumber for export, namely, one at Victoria, one at Nanaimo, and two at Burrard Inlet. Another mill was being erected at Cowichan, and one at Chemamis, which had already shipped cargoes. The mode of lumbering was altogether different from that in Canada. They did not wait for snow, but built skids and hauled the timber along them during the summer as well as in the winter season, the business being carried on throughout the year. These skids are prepared by taking four or five logs and making a continuous bridge or support, and across these the logs laid and rolled along. The mills export lumber to Chili, China, Australia, Brazil, Cape of Good Hope, San Francisco, New Zealand, Spain, England, and Russia. Some is sent to the Sandwich Islands, but not much. Some is sent to Rio Janeiro, and a great deal to Australia, but the Australian market was not so good now as it formerly was. There are no other manufactories for preparing woods before exportation. But very little shipbuilding has been attempted. The lumbermen had purchased large timber tracts in former times, in fee simple, and the government had lately adopted a system of leasing lands at a cent an acre per annum, upon the condition that the parties should go in and erect a mill. They have a kind of rule for cutting so many thousand feet a day, and if they exceed 50,000 feet a day they get so many more acres of land. There is a graduated rate, according to the number of thousands of feet the mill is capable of cutting. The mills cut only when they have orders, and they always keep a supply of logs in the boom. Besides the pines, there is a kind of bird's-eye maple, mixed with other trees, with some oak, a kind of basswood, and hemlock. (4.) Exportation of Lumber from British Columbia during the first ten years of the Lumber Trade of that Province. VII-PUBLIC WORKS OF CANADA HAVING RELATION TO THE TIMBER INTERESTS. The Public Works of Canada directly or indirectly subordinate to the Timber interests are: (1.) SLIDES AND BOOMS, to effect the passage of timber where impediments to navigation exist and where no canal ronnects the reaches of natural navigation; and (2.) THE CANALS. A concise statement of the extent and operations of each will be given. 1. SLIDES AND BOOMS. (a.) Description and extent. The Slides are inclined planes of timber, planked, and descending by a convenient grade and in a direct line from the navigable waters above a fall or rapid to the still waters below. They have booms at the place of entrance and sometimes at the place of discharge, forming artificiallyclosed bays for retaining the timber. These works have been constructed by the government upon the Saguenay, St. Maurice, Ottawa, and Trent Rivers and their tributaries, and upon the waters leading into Georgian Bay. They are in charge of the Minister of Fublic Works of the Dominion Government. The Saguenay has a slide 5,840 feet long, taking timber from Lake St. John into the river, with a boom 1,344 feet long, and dams, piers, and bulkheads. Works are also constructed on La Petite Décharge, the less of the two affluents of Lake St. John; begun in 1856, finished in 1860. The St. Maurice has seven, and one of its tributaries, the Vermillion, has two slides. Several affluents have booms, piers, and other works. The principal tributaries of the St. Maurice River are the Shawenigan, Mokinak, Matawan, Petit Bostonais, Grand Bostonais, Croche, Vermillion, Tranche, Grand Pierriche, and Manounan. The Ottawa District has 73 works for the descent of timber, of which 11 are on the main river, 1 on the Gatineau, 15 on the Madawaska, 2 on the Coulonge, 1 on the Black, 31 on the Petewawa, and 12 on the River du Moine. On the River Ottawa these works comprise 2,000 lineal feet of canals, 3,834 of slides, 29,855 of booms, 8,655 of dams, 345 of bulkheads, and 1,981 bridges, besides 52 piers, 3 slide-keepers' houses, and 3 storehouses. Lumbering began on this river in March, 1799. The Gatineau, which is 400 miles long, unites with the Ottawa at a point 2 miles below the city of Ottawa, and drains an area of about 9,000 square miles. The works are at a station a mile from its mouth, consisting of 3,071 feet of canal, 4,138 of booms, and 52 of bridges, besides 10 piers and a slide-keeper's house. The Madawaska is 240 miles long, drains an area of about 4,100 square miles, and unites with the Ottawa 136 miles above St. Anne. The 15 slides have in all a length of 1,750 linear feet, with 18,179 feet of booms, 4,080 of dams, and 182 of bridges, besides 43 piers, a slide-keeper's house, and a workshop. The Coulonge is 160 miles long, drains 1,800 square miles, and discharges into the Ottawa 184 miles above St. Anne. It has 3 booms, in all 2,548 feet in length, supported by 10 piers. Black River empties into the Ottawa 193 miles above St. Anne, is 128 miles long, and drains about 1,120 square miles. It has 1,139 linear feet of single-stick booms, 873 feet of slide, 346 feet of glance pier, and 135 feet of flat dam. The Petewawa is 138 miles long, and drains 2,200 square miles, uniting with the Ottawa 218 miles above St. Anne. Seven miles from its mouth it separates into two branches. On these 7 miles there are 5 stations, on the north branch 15, and on the south branch 8 stations, having in all, 5,577 feet of slides, 11,140 of booms, and 3,496 of dams, besides 30 piers. The Du Moine is 120 miles long, and drains about 1,600 square miles. It flows into the Ottawa 256 miles above St. Anne, and has 300 feet of slide, 800 of boom, and 1,324 of dams, besides 6 piers. River Trent and Newcastle District.-The Trent navigation extends from Trenton, on the Bay of Amité, to Fenelon Falls, at the north end of Sturgeon Lake in one direction, and following the southwest on the opposite route, passes by the River Scugog into the lake of that name, and to Port Perry at the head of the lake. The total distance, 190 miles, has 155 miles of navigable waters, and 343 in which locks, booms, slides, &c., are used at points to facilitate lumbering. Since 1855 a part of the works have been in charge of a committee of persons in the lumber trade, who collect tolls on timber passing through. Years.2 (b.) Timber and Saw-Logs that passed the Government Slides and Booms, on the Ottawa ard its Tributaries, in each Calendar year from 1851 to 1879, inclusive, and the Revenue accrued therefrom.1 Square and Flat- In a note accompanying a statement of the amount of Timber and Saw-Logs passed these slides from 1851 to 1870, inclusive, as given in the Report on Inland Revenues for the year ending in 1870, we find the following: "This statement does not include Saw-Logs cut by Gilmour & Co. on the Gatineau, and by E. B. Eddy on the Bonnachere, &c. (amounting to 190,000, nearly, in 1870), nor those cut on tributaries of the Ottawa below the Gatineau, such as the rivers Aux Lievres, Rouge, and Petite Nation, beyond this agency, which are exported in barges without passing through government slides or booms previously to being sawed up. There are also fully 200,000 logs, from the head-waters of the Rideau and Mississippi (?), that go out to the front, sawn or unsawn, without descending the Ottawa. Including all these, the total of Ottawa logs for 1870 would be about 2,000,000." 2 Before 1873, the years given are those ending December 31; since then, they are fiscal years, ending June 30. 3 Much stock timber, of previous seasons, from Upper Petewawa, had not come down on 30th June, 1871. 1 (c.) Revenue accrued on the undermentioned Works during the last eight years. Madawaska. Petewawa. Du Moine. Black River. |