THE CONIFKROUS FORESTS OF KASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 63 



consumed by fire, the potash and other mhieral nutrients stored 

 up in several years' growth of evergreen leaves is returned to 

 the soil in readily available form, and this must be a significant 

 factor in the rapid growth of the fireweeds. Quite a lengthy 

 chapter could be written about this phenomenon, which has 

 almost no counterpart in the coniferous forests farther south, 

 where fires are nearly always ground-fires, and do not kill the 

 trees outright. 



The economic aspects of these northern forests are numerous 

 and varied. The soil and climate are not very favourable for 

 agriculture, so that the farmer, the greatest enemy of forests in 

 this country, has done little damage, and the timber is in no 

 immediate danger of exhaustion. The trees are used to a 

 considerable extent for lumber, and almost as much for pulp-wood ; 

 nearly all the large paper mills in North America being located 

 not far from such forests. Logging is nearly all carried on in 

 winter, when the snow facilitates hauling the logs to the nearest 

 river or railroad. The Christmas trees used in northern cities 

 are nearly all brought from the same region. The same 

 forests furnish our spruce gum and Canada balsam, and 

 among them are found the most important peat deposits in 

 North America. 1 



The boreal conifer region is a favourite resort for hunters, 

 trappers, fishermen, berry-pickers, campers, canoeists, hay-fever 

 sufferers, etc., most of whom migrate northward in summer from 

 the densely populated regions a little farther south. At certain 

 times and places mosquitoes and black-flies make life in the 

 north woods somewhat burdensome, but the mosquitoes are at 

 least not of the malarial variety, and poisonous snakes and some 

 other pests are conspicuous by their absence. 



The White Pine {Pinus Strobus) ranges from Newfoundland 

 and Manitoba to the mountains of Georgia, and associates with 

 many other trees, mostly hardwoods, in various parts of its range ; 

 pure stands of it being the exception rather than the rule. It 

 grows in almost any kind of soil except the richest and poorest, 

 wettest and driest, but seems to prefer that containing a mod- 

 erate amount of humus. From its distribution we may infer 

 that it is confined to climates where the average temperature 



' Bulletin 16 of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, by Dr Charles A. Davis, 191 1, 

 contains a large coloured map showing the distribution of peat in tlie United 

 States. The Canadian deposits are still more extensive. 



