Notes 



191 



QUEBEC'S RECORD REVENUE. 



A despatch from Quebec states : In 

 his annual report submitted to the 

 Quebec Legislature, Hon. Jules Al- 

 lard, Minister of Lands and Forests, 

 states that the receipts of the De- 

 partment for the year amounted to 

 $1,760,466.25, the greatest revenue 

 ever received by that department. 

 Part of this amount was derived 

 from the sale of land, but the chief 

 revenue comes from the woods and 

 forests department, the cutting licen- 

 ses alone giving $1,134,147.19, the 

 rent $330,203.09, and penalties, in- 

 terest, etc., bringing the total up to 

 $1,510,171.41. The fire protection 

 system was successful in preventing 

 all but a few fires. Seventeen sta- 

 tions were established for observing 

 the water-powers of the province at 

 all seasons, for the purpose of noting 

 their adaptability for industrial pur- 

 poses. 



MR. BOOTH'S PHILANTHROPY. 



Mr. John R. Booth, Ottawa's vet- 

 eran lumberman, has donated a new 

 wing to St. Luke's Hospital, Ottawa, 

 at a cost of $125,000. Mr. Booth has 

 been president of the Board of Dir- 

 ectors of the institution for many 

 years. Mr. Booth is now very large- 

 ly recovered from the serious injury 

 which he recently suffered when he 

 was struck by a falling timber at 

 one of his mills which had been de- 

 stroyed by fire. 



THE HARDY CATALPA. 



Warning Issued against planting in 

 the North. 



The New York State College of 

 Forestry has issued a warning to 

 farmers against planting the Hardy 

 Catalpa tree in New York State, ex- 

 cept for experimental purposes. A 

 college bulletin states that many 

 land owners have been induced to 



plant this tree because of statements 

 regarding its growth and durability, 

 and that without doubt much plant- 

 ing has been done that will result 

 in failure. It points out that the Cat- 

 alpa is a native of river bottoms in 

 the middle west of the United States, 

 where, under favorable conditions it 

 makes exceedingly rapid growth. 

 Because of the ease with which the 

 nurseries grow it from seed it has 

 been exploited very widely through 

 the country, and it is believed has 

 been planted too widely in New 

 York State. This bulletin goes on to 

 point out that the Catalpa is a spec- 

 ialized forest crop requiring good 

 agricultural soil and more care than 

 the ordinary farmer cares usually to 

 give it. As the college authorities do 

 not want to see land of any value for 

 agriculture used for forestry, they 

 urge farmers to plant Catalpa only 

 in very limited quantities and as an 

 experiment. If there are idle lands 

 in the State in the form of hill sides 

 or ridges it would be better to grow 

 quick growing ever-greens, such as 

 red and white pine or Scotch pine, or 

 such hardwoods as the common black 

 or yellow locust. Experience with 

 the Catalpa in States to the west of 

 New York does not promise success 

 with it in the latter State. 



As there has been considerable at- 

 tempt at exploitation of the Hardy 

 Catalpa in Ontario it may be well to 

 say that the view of persons of ex- 

 perience is that these warnings in 

 regard to New York State would ap- 

 ply with equal force to this Province. 



A writer in the Toronto Daily Star 

 urges the Province of Ontario to go 

 into fur farming as a public business. 

 lie argues that Ontario is one of the 

 greatest producers of fur in the world. 

 Strict laws have caused the increase 

 of the fur bearing animals, notably 

 beaver, and yet the beneficiaries of 

 this protection are chiefly two private 

 fur companies. 



