120 FOREST commissioner's report. 



dom been either systematic or heavy there is no lack of spruce 

 at the present time. A good idea of the country can be 

 obtained from the lakes in a steamer or canoe. Especially is 

 this the case if one's visit occurs as mine did in the late fall, 

 when the hard wood leaves are off and every evergreen top 

 shows with perfect distinctness. There is little hemlock in 

 the country. The scattering pines are distinguished by their 

 height or by a light and shining tint of green. The spruce 

 tops show out dark and strong, a fit feature seemingly in the 

 landscape of this high and rugged countiy. 



A practical explorer learns very much about his country by 

 these general views. The thickness of evergreen tops tells 

 something about the amount of timber, while its distribution 

 is very readily ascertained in this way. If not at too great a 

 distance one can tell if land has been recently cut. In that case 

 the cover does not present an even surface, but is raooed and 

 one can look down into the trees and see the limbs. Lastly 

 the distribution of waste land and the location of burns, even 

 though they ma}- be sixty or seventy years of age, can be in 

 this way a[)proximateIy ascertained and charted. The fine 

 white birch which comes up most abundantly on all burnt 

 lands in this region can be told at a distance, whether in leaf 

 or not, from the yellow birch, beech and maples which are the 

 staples of the original hard wood growth. 



The growth about the lakes is not especially different in its 

 nature from that already descril)ed. Everywhere, except on 

 the old burns, there is spruce. The mountains are clothed 

 with it nearly pure. On the slopes and ridges, it is mixed in 

 varying proportion with hard woods. From some of the flat 

 lands, as I learned, tremendous cuts have been taken. The 

 ubiquity of spruce is the secret of the large average stand. 

 art''i>'cut^"' The cut on these lands, as already stated, has 

 tinj?- been light. Striking out from any point on the 



lake shores, the old roads if one chooses can still be followed. 

 They are clear enough overhead, but underneath are full of 

 young growth, generally a mixture of birches and maples 



