30 



open, or the arboretum, it is a. peculiarly graceful and beautiful object. For a short period 

 also, in the autumn, when it has assumed its golden dress, it presents a pleasing contrast 

 to the evei'greens above named. Its wood, however, is valuable for many purposes. It 

 is close grained and firm, and resists the action of moisture, and, on these accounts, is 

 prized for sleepers in buildings, railway-ties, and for fence-posts. As fire-wood, it is worth 

 in the towns about $3 per cord. But the chief value of tamarack is for the purposes of 

 the ship-builder. 



From the swamps of Bury the knees and other timbers have been cut for vessels 

 ranging from barges of thirty tons to brigs of 400 tons burden. The firm that is operating 

 in this section of country is that of Benjamin, Lewis & Company, of Bangor, iViaine. 

 One million feet, board measure, will, by the close of the season, have been cut by them 

 in the present year, in the Township of Bury alone I shall base my estimate of the loss 

 sustained by the township through the saw-fly, upon the operations of this firm. 



In former days when the timber was sound, $3 per 1000 feet on the stump, 

 board measure, was paid for it. Now, through waste and general deterioration, the trees 

 are worth only one-half their former price. Sap-rot commences very soon after tlie death 

 of the tree, and Vjy the second year has proceeded to a very sensible extent. Various 

 kinds of "borers" then make their assaults, and penetrate the heart wood, hastening the 

 decay of the tree. It is Vjelieved that in three years, through use and decay, the supply 

 of tamarack throughout the country will be exhausted. 



The borers that I found at work in the tamarack were larvse belonging to the families 

 Buprestidte, O^irambycidse and Elateridse. I also found one or two cocoons of a 

 Hymenopterous insect. 



As we have seen, there are in Bury 640 acres of tamarack giving on the average forty 

 marketable trees to the acre, or 25,600 such trees in all. Every tree contains at least 

 400 feet, board jueasure, of lumber. This gives for the whole forest 10,240,000 feet, 

 which, in a sound condition, would have been worth .^30,720, and which left standing 

 would, under favourable circumstances, have been increasing in value. On the 1,000,000 

 feet that will have been secured by the end of the season, there will be a direct and 

 immediate loss of $1,500. Supposing, which is hardly probable, that 1,000,000 feet at 

 the same price will be cut next year, there will yet be 8,240,00 feet of lumber, represent- 

 ing $24,720 in money value entirely lost to the township, besides the value of the younger 

 trees which would have been a source of income in future years, as they successively 

 attained perfection. 



The tamarack forest of the townships is a thing of the past. There seems to be a 

 law of nature, that, when one growth of trees is swept away, another of a different kind 

 shall succeed it. The hemlocks and pines of our mountain sides give place to the poplar 

 and the white birch. The tamaracks will propably be succeeded by the American arbor- 

 vitje or white cedar [Tlinja occidentalis). And, if there were no such natural law, the 

 world is too old, its population too vast, and land in the temperate regions too valuable, 

 for us to suppose that large tracts of lowlands will be left in a state of nature for 200 

 years to come. 



The value of the Canadian tamarack was only beginning to be understood in the 

 foreign market. The demands for it were increasing, and with increased demands better 

 prices would have come. All things considered, I do not think it an exaggeration to say 

 that the loss to the Township of Bury alone, through the attacks of Nematus Erichsonii 

 may be estimated at $50,000, and that of Lingwick at double that sum. And when we 

 consider that the ravages of the insect have extended through the townships, and the 

 seigniories,* and into the country beyond to its utmost known limits, we are brought to 

 the conclusion that Neinittis Erichsonii has been the worst insect pest that has ever 

 visited the Province of Quebec. It has acquired the " bad eminence " of a position in 

 the rank of infamy above the midge, the weevil, the potato-beetle, and the army-worm. 



With its food-plant the insect must of necessity disappear, and in years to come the 

 specimens preserved in our cabinets will be regarded as rarities. 



*In the Seigniory of Lotbiniere alone there are 100,000 acres producing more or less tamarack to 

 the acre. 



