THE FORESTRY EXHIBITION AT PAFIS. 351 



Exhibition, the United States and Canada made an important 

 show — not so much from the point of view of scientific forestry, 

 as from the display of fine timbers, and from the obvious fact 

 that, at any rate in the United States, the importance of having 

 permanent forest reserved areas, and of treating these areas in 

 the most systematic and economical manner, is being recognised. 

 Many large reserves have already been formed and placed under 

 Working Plans ; and under the guidance of such foresters as 

 Messrs Hough, Fernow, and Pinchot, the value and importance 

 of scientific working, replacing the old system of lumbering with- 

 out much thought of reproduction, is receiving great attention. 

 It is encouraging also to read, in Mr J. M. Macoun's interesting 

 pamphlet on the " Forest Wealth of Canada," that " wise laws 

 have been made by the provincial and federal Governments, 

 having for their object the preservation of the forests; and the 

 owners and lessees of timber limits now exercise greater care than 

 formerly in the prevention of fires, supplementing to a very con- 

 siderable extent the efforts of the Government to lessen the 

 destruction of valuable timber from this cause. The various 

 Governments are taking steps towards the re-foresting of the 

 denuded areas under their control, and though the actual work so 

 far done in this direction is not great, preliminary investigations 

 are being made which will enable them to apply the methods 

 best suited to each district." So far as it goes, this is good, 

 but I have not heard of any steps having yet been taken to set 

 apart permanent forests, get together a professional staff, ascertain 

 even roughly the amount of the capital stock, and restrict fell- 

 ings to the amount which can be calculated as the permanent 

 annual yield. As I have already remarked, it is to Canada and 

 its forests, more than to any other country, that the world will 

 have to look for its supply when the time of wood-famine pre- 

 dicted by M. Melard arrives ; and it may be hoped that the 

 lesson will attract the earnest attention of the Government of the 

 Dominion before it is too late. 



Among the exhibits of British colonies most noticeable were 

 the splendid specimens in the West Australian Court illustrating 

 the trade in the "Jarrah" and "Karri" timbers, species of 

 Eucalyptus. Outside the doorways, were huge sections of these 

 trees ; inside, nearly all the fittings, even the floors and staircases, 

 were made of them, and it was obvious that no pains were being 

 spared to advertise the value of these woods. Any professional 



