7 1 G RE VIE WS OF B 00 KS. [Ma r-.. 



Hs. or 4s. an acre was the value of the virgin soil of Herefordshire, 

 tlie rates at present were abnormally high. 



After some discussion, Mr. Trinder offered to withdraw that 

 ]iortion of the report which suggested another valuation. The 

 Chaii'man then withdrew his amendment, and the report passed. 



Keviews of ^ooks. 



Canadian Forests, Forest Trees, Thiiber and Forest Products. By H. 

 B. Small. Montreal : Dawson Brothers. 



Judged merely by its size this must be called a small book, but a 

 perusal of its pages reveals that it is a very full one. "While it only 

 cursorily deals with the vast subject of which it treats, the concise 

 style of the author, and the compact, well-arranged plan of the work, 

 render it a model of fulness and clearness of information. There 

 can be no doubt but that the forests of Canada have played a most 

 important part in the rapid development of the wealth and history 

 of the country. We learn from statistics cj^uoted in this little work, 

 from the Census Eeturns for the Dominion of 1881, that there were 

 then " thirty-four industries or occupations which depended in whole 

 ■or in part npon wood or timber as their raw material for manufac- 

 ture, and that there were in connection with these 17,577 establish- 

 ments, employing 95,741 hands, turning out manufactured articles 

 valued at 95,029,828 dols." This is exclusive of many industries 

 in which timber, while not forming the raw material, is yet indis- 

 pensable in their development. Speaking of the collateral benefits 

 of the timber trade to the country as apart from those directly 

 arising irom exports, etc., the author says : " The lumbermen, 

 moreover, create a home demand for farm j^roducts, generally at 

 better prices than could be obtained elsewhere. To give an idea of 

 the large consumption of agricultural produce in this business, the 

 folloM'ing statement of the rec[uirements of one large firm in the 

 Ottawa district for one season answers for all others in its general 

 outline. This firm consumes 750 tons of hay, 25,000 bushels of 

 oats, 5000 bushels of turnips, 0000 bushels of potatoes, 1000 

 barrels of pork, 9000 barrels of flour, 2000 barrels of oatmeal in 

 the woods alone, or in round figures 2400 tons of acfricultural 

 produce are required by this one firm." It appears there are 

 83,000 men employed in the lumbering trade, apart altogether from 

 other industries which depend on the forest products, who with 

 f\\QU families must form a very large population. 



