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had an inexhaustible supply of wood, and we pointed with pride to the rafts of timber 

 which floated down our rivers, and to the vessels which took our lumber abroad. We 

 thought that we supplied not only Great Britain with lumber, but also a large part of 

 the Continent. Canada, however, did not send to England one-fourth of the lumber which 

 she consumed, while what we sent to other parts of Europe was but as a drop in the 

 bucket. Fifteen years ago a certain gentleman raised the warning voice against the 

 ruthless destruction of the forests. He referred to Mr. James Little of Montreal. Mr. 

 Little ought to be here now in the speaker's place. But Mr. Little was eighty years 

 of age, and his physical strength did not allow him perhaps to stand the fatigue which he 

 might have to undergo. But he was sure Mr. Little must be proud now to see the Pro- 

 vince of Quebec and the whole world acknowledge that he was right when he was trying 

 to stop the wholesale destruction of these forests. He (Mr. Little) was laughed at then, 

 but he was vindicated to-day. Even two hundred years ago this warning had been given. 

 He had seen in old manuscripts that the former French Governors in 1690 had recog- 

 nized the danger which threatened our forests. Where were our forests now ] Many 

 old homesteads that have been handed down from father to son, generation after genera- 

 tion, have been sold, and why 1 Simply because there was not a stick of firewood upon 

 them. But people asked now, where does all the lumber come from which we see passing 

 down our rivers ? It comes from the height of land which divides the water shed of 

 the St. Lawrence and the water shed of the Hudson's Bay, 200 or 300 miles away. A 

 few years ago there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of timber between the Ottawa 

 and the St. Maurice ; but now people met together disputing with one another over the 

 timber in the heart of that region. In Ontario the same state of affairs also existed. 

 There was then, it would seem, some need for foreseeing, and for the education of the 

 public in this regard, and the large audience which he saw before him spoke well for the 

 interest that would in future be taken in this subject. About ten years ago Mr. Levesque 

 Daillebout was instrumental in starting a Forestry Association in this Province, one of 

 the laws incumbent on its members being that they were bound to plant a certain number 

 of trees every year. But unfortunately that association did not live very long. There 

 were those who said that it was all very well for the older countries to talk of planting 

 timber, but in a country like Canada, where nature had planted forests with such a liberal 

 hand, what was the use of talking about planting trees 1 But they must consider that 

 there were countries newer than Canada where this question had been taken up — such as 

 New Zealand, Algeria, etc. ; they could even call Montreal old as compared with the 

 United States. About sixty or seventy years ago, immense tracts of sterile, sand plains 

 near Bordeaux, France, were planted with trees, and turned into forests, and as a conse- 

 quence, to-day the people of that place manufactured everything that timber can produce. 

 They had, not fertile fields, but fertile forests, which would even yield a more increasing 

 revenue. What could we do in this country, and what ought we do ? There were two 

 ways of working in this matter — one was by protecting the forests we have now, and an- 

 other was by creating new forests, and they would not expect that any one man would 

 consider these two questions from the same point of view, some being in favour of protect- 

 ing our present forests, while others were in favour of planting new forests. But both the 

 preservation of our timber and the creation of new forests in regions where they do not 

 exist were absolutely necessary. The greatest enemy, however, which they had to fight 

 was forest fires, and they had to consider what they could do to fight those fires, and to 

 prevent the total destruction of timber limits. He might perhaps mention his owti ex- 

 perience in cultivating trees. He had under his control about 100,000 acres of land, on 

 which he turned out from 35,000 to 40,000 spruce logs every year, and by following one 

 rule — that is, not to allow a tree to be cut under twelve inches — and by observing this 

 rule he could have an everlasting supply of spruce. He desired every farmer to know 

 that with courage, perseverance and a little intelligence, he could have an ample supply 

 of timber, not only for firewood, but for building purposes, so that not only himself Ijut 

 his children after him would have a steady and continual supply. He spoke at some 

 length on the subject of the Black Walnut tree, which grew, he said, three times as fast 

 as Pine and five times as fast as Spruce, and was easy to cultivate, except that it required 

 very rich soil. He had had eight years' experience in the cultivation of the Black Wal- 



