268 



exhausted is not far distant and can he predicted with considerable accuracy. The profits 

 of this destruction goes to the few men who own our pine lands, and is paid them by the 

 many industries that manufacture and consume the lumber. 



We need not flatter ourselves that when we shall have exhausted our own inheritance, 

 and are then compelled to admit Canadian lumber free, that our neighbours will not add 

 to the price of that which we have helped them to preserve, a sum equal not only to the 

 duty which our Government now imposes, but also to the profits added which our land- 

 grant railroads and lumber kings are now able to realize through lack of competition. 



The sort of statesmanship which would ofi'er bounties for tree planting, and at the 

 same time restrict the importations of lumber for our own necessities, is as feeble as 

 would be an attempt to preserve to this country the American bison by offering a premium 

 for their propagation in your zoological garden, and at the same time give a bounty for 

 their pelts taken from the herds of the great west. 



L. B. W. 



In every locality forest trees, in common with all other vegetable growths, are more 

 or less liable to the attacks of injurious insects. In order that tree growers may be 

 enabled to distinguish insect friends from foes, and to know how best to subdue injurious 

 species, the following paper is submitted : 



INSECTS AFFECTING FOREST TREES. 

 By William Saunders, London, Ontario. 



The preservation of our existing forests, and the protection of new plantations de- 

 signed in some measure to re-clothe denuded districts, also the establishment of wooded 

 patches throughout the open prairie sections of the western portion of this continent, are 

 all questions of primary importance to us, aS'ecting as they will the climate, and thus 

 the comfort and well-being of a large present and very large prospective population. 

 The regularity of the crops of cereals and fruits is much influenced by the presence of 

 shelter belts of forest, as these break the winds which would otherwise sweep unchecked 

 over the open country, and by their shelter and shade prevent that rapid evaporation 

 from the surface which so often results in the drying up of rivers and streams, causing 

 drought at a time when moisture is most needed. 



One of the influences which seriously affects the growth and preservation of forest 

 trees is insect pests. These creatures, often insignificant in size, make up in numbers 

 what they lack in individual power, and frequently by their depredations cast the shadow 

 of disappointment over the hopes and aspirations of the lover of forest trees. These in- 

 sidious foes sometimes attack the roots, feeding upon them or boring into them, and thus 

 sap the foundations of the tree's existence ; they burrow under the bark, eating out chan- 

 nels or galleries through the sap wood, and materially interfere with the regular flow of 

 the sap, or by the multiplication of these channels sometimes girdle the tree and cause 

 its death. Some of the tiny hosts attack the smoother bark of the twigs and branches, 

 and puncturing their surface suck the sap, the life-blood of the tree ; others burrow into 

 the terminal shoots and cause their death ; while a large army of invaders feed openly 

 upon the leaves, consuming their substance, and materially retard the growth of the trees 

 they attack. 



It would be impossible in a paper like the present one to refer in detail to the in- 

 dividual species composing these vast hordes — such particulars would till volumes ; hence 

 on this occasion we must content ourselves by dwelling on the general principles which 

 ai-e to guide us in our eff'orts to destroy these foes. When such destruction is practicable, 

 and where direct human effort seems powerless or too insignificant in its result to be 



