230 BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



It will be a long time yet before tree-planting will pay in New Bruns- 

 wick, though some day it will. There is one situation, however, in which 

 I think a certain amount of cultivation would pay in the near future. 

 In St. John and Charlotte counties, and in lesser degree in other parts 

 of the province, are many abandoned farms growing up in trees. Left 

 to themselves these trees are oftener than not of worthless sorts, and 

 grow so densely as greatly to injure one another in the struggle that 

 ensues. If pine and the best spruce were established on these lands, 

 and kept thinned out, they would in time yield ample returns, returns 

 that no individual can afford to wait for, though a government, with 

 its borrowing capacity, can. Care should be taken in future, too, not 

 to grant for settlement land that is better suited for trees than for 

 agriculture. 



Under so purely democratic a government as that of New Bruns- 

 wick, no legislature can afford to take steps not backed by public 

 opinion. Any movement entailing much present expense for a distant 

 return would undoubtedly be condemned by the people. If, however, 

 the great importance of this subject to the future of the province were 

 generally understood, the people could be trusted to respond in its 

 favor as they have for education and other great interests. It is, how- 

 ever, the duty of the government to take the first step, which should 

 be towards the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge upon the 

 subject of forestry in all its aspects and in its relation to allied interests, 

 such as game preservation, fishing licenses, water-powers, location of 

 settlements, etc.; and, following this, should come the formulation of a 

 broad plan for the economic management of these great public interests. 

 The experience of other countries shows that such wide-reaching 

 investigation must be made independent of the exigencies of local 

 politics, which can be done only by placing the whole subject in the 

 hands of a commission, unpaid except for expenses, composed of the 

 most public-spirited and able citizens. Surely New Brunswick is not 

 so poor that she cannot command this service from her sons. 



24. — Cost of a Topographical Survey of New Brunswick. 



(Read April 4th, 1890). 



In a former note upon this subject (No 14), I pointed out that a 

 survey of New Brunswick upon the plan and scale of that of Massa 

 chusetts would cost at least $351,000, and probably much more, 



