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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



It is estimated that 70% of the Appa- 

 lachian area must eventually remain in 

 forest or waste land. Over 5000 sq. mi. 

 of this area are included in the Quebec 

 Forest Reserves. 



The region north of the St. Lawrence 

 River may conveniently be divided 

 into two main forest regions, the north- 

 ern and the Laurentian. The former 

 comprises the Hudson Bay and Labrador 

 basins and the latter the St. Lawrence 

 basin. Most of the province north of 

 the 55th parallel is essentially treeless 

 tundra and fell-field while in a zone some 

 100 mi. broad about Hudson and James 

 Bays the forests are largely limited to 

 the better drained lands along the rivers, 

 The northern forests are estimated at 

 some 250,000 sq. mi. in area of w^hich 

 perhaps one-sixth has some m.erchant- 

 able timber in the form of fuel and pulp 

 wood. Here coniferous and deciduous 

 types mingle. Black spruce (Picea 

 mariana) and tamarack are the principal 

 conifers with jack pine (Pinus divari- 

 cata) on some of the poorer sandy but 

 better drained soils. Aspen and white 

 birch form stands of deciduous forest 

 of the low stature or mingle with the 

 conifers. Through much of the area 

 the tamarack was almost exterminated 

 in 1885 and 1900 by attacks of the larch 

 saw-fly. Since those years of destruc- 

 tion some recovery has been made. 



As the highlands are reached the 

 trees increase in size and arbor vitae 

 and white spruce and balsam popular 

 (Populus balsamifera) become more 

 abundant. 



These forests are all upon public lands 

 and little has been cut but extensive 

 and destructive fires have occurred. 

 The Laurentian forests are the best 

 and the most valuable in the province 

 not less than 160,000 sq. mi. of which are 

 within the Quebec Forests Reervses. 

 Much of this area, however, has been 

 leased to the lumber companies and has 

 been cut over. Destructive and ex- 

 tensive fires have also occurred but it is 

 estimated that 75% of this area is 

 capable of yielding merchantable timber. 



This forest is composed principally 

 of white and black spruce mixed with 

 balsam fir. With these trees are mingled 

 in varying degrees of abundance the 

 aspen and balsam popular (Populus 

 iremuloides and P. balsamifera) and the 

 white birch (Betula pa-pyrifera) . Here 

 too are large bogs or muskegs with few 

 small trees. The southern portion of 

 this area has the best forests of the 

 province, the spruces being mixed with 

 white and red pine and arbor vitae and 

 as the St. Lawrence River is approached 

 by a mixture of such hardwoods as 

 yellow birch, ash and maple. 



The Quebec Forest Reserves are 

 largely within this Laurentian region. 

 They comprise 168,000 sq. mi. of which 

 110,000 are in the Saugenay and Labra- 

 dor Reserve. Other large units are 

 the Ottawa Reserve wdth 27,000 sq. mi. 

 in the basin of the Ottawa River con- 

 taining much of the remaining white 

 pine and the St. Maurice Reserve, 

 21,000 sq. mi., with some of the best 

 spruce and mixed forests. 



4. Mammals of the Gaspe Peninsula, 



Quebec {Extracted from article by 



George G. Goodwin) 



The Gaspe Peninsula is in the extreme 

 eastern part of Quebec, south of the 

 St. Lawrence, and is bounded by the 

 bay of Chaleur on the south. It has an 

 area of about 11,000 sq. mi. and lies 

 entirely within the Canadian zone. 

 The peninsula is covered largely with 

 primeval forest and is almost roadless, 

 except along the shores. No roads pass 

 from north to south on account of the 

 chain of Shickshock Mountains, which 

 are far too rugged to be crossed. There 

 is a fringe of settlements along the north 

 coast which depend for livelihood mainly 

 on fishing in the summer and lumbering 

 in the winter. Most of the inhabitants 

 cultivate a few fields and do a little 

 farming, using oxen and old-time farm 

 implements. Only the coast region, for 

 a maximum depth of 10 mi., has opened 

 up to settlement. 



The north shore is particularly strik- 



