112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ‘CANADIAN ENSTITUTE. 
more than a moral question, it was an object which should be im- 
pressed upon us by ‘the highest feelings of our religion. ‘We found 
here the wood, the water, the fertile soil We know that ‘the 
deforesting of a country does ‘more than remove the one, it greatly 
impairs the others, so that the land‘may not’ be able to support more 
than the ‘tenth part it now maintains. "We should remember ‘that 
no proprietor can have a title to destroy the fertility of the soil, lest 
“the field cry out against him, and the furrows thereof likewise com- 
plain.” The vast concourse of humanity continually emerges from 
the unknown past, it travels toilsomely by, it is lost in the clouds of 
the future. ‘Be sure that there we shall-meet with strict questioners ; 
nor will those pass unchallenged who have, ‘to serve their own pur- 
poses, rendered painful, sterile, and-barren, the path of generations 
yet to follow. 
Mr. Browning asked if the Government was taking any 
action in the direction suggested. 
Mr. Phipps replied that several reports on the subject were 
made at the instance of the Government. 
Mr. Macdougall spoke of Forestry Associations in the 
North-west, in Australia, and in India, whose work had pro- 
duced beneficial results. 
Mr. Murray considered the subject as one of great impor- 
tance 'to'this country, and suggested that.cattle:should not be 
allowed ‘to pasture on ‘forest land, as:when they do so pasture 
they prevent second growth. 
Mr. Bain and Mr. Livingstone made some remarks, and the 
President illustrated on the blackboard the difference between 
trees grown in the forest and in the open field. 
THIRTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 
The Thirteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Session 1884-’85, 
was held on Saturday, February 7th, 1885, the President in 
the Chair. 
The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. 
