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Canadian Forestry Journal, September, 1919 



clamation of the shifting sands in the parish 

 of Lachute. These shifting sands, as you are 

 no doubt aware, are the result of poor methods 

 of cultivation that have exhausted some of the 

 farm lands in that section; gradually the grass 

 cover began to disappear and the sand to show 

 up; very soon the wind caused the displace- 

 ment of its particles; every year things went 

 from bad to worse, till finally there was a dune 

 of about 3!/2 miles in length, broadening in its 

 middle to about one half-mile. The sand not 

 only prevented any cultivation upon the area 

 affected, but also invaded with persistence the 

 adjoining farms so that the area of waste land 

 was increasing gradually. The government of 

 the province passed an agreement with seven 

 owners to buy their land at $1.00 per acre in 

 order to reforest same, giving them the option 

 to buy it back after 15 years for $10 an acre. 

 We began our work by planting on the western 

 edge of the sand dune some 20,000 pines and 

 spruces, with a few elms and ash; these broad- 

 leaf trees were used exclusively for experimental 

 purposes. The next year 50,000 more pines 

 were set in to replace part of the trees that had 

 died (about 20 per cent) and also to increase 

 the surface planted which is now equal to 45 

 acres. To-day these trees have not only main- 

 tained their hold on the pure sand, but have 

 grown up to five feet in average; many are ten 

 feet in height; the sand has been stopped from 

 shifting and a grassy vegetation is exhibitmg 

 itself here and there. Beech grass was also used. 

 The result is so satisfactory that the former 

 owner of the land has assured us that he would 

 buy back the land at the expiration of the con- 

 tract. Similar work has been done at Berthier 

 Junction in recent years. 



The same year we began shipments of trees 

 in various lots to private individuals, colleges, 

 etc., and we have continued this ever since. 

 On the Perthius Seignory. 

 In 1911, the Seignior of Perthius ordered fifty 

 thousand pine and spruce trees to be set near 

 Notre-Dame-des-Anges, and every year since he 

 has repeated his order for about the same quan- 

 tity. I have just received a report of these 

 plantations and the white pine trees thereon 

 show a growth of 4 to 5'/2 feet in height, 

 whereas the spruce range from 2 to 2'/2 feet 

 in height. According to those who have seen 

 the plantations they are a real success and a 

 good example to follow. 



At the present time the stock of trees in the 

 nursery exceeds four million plants; and we are 

 preparing ourselves to be in a position to ship 



every year from two to three million plants as 

 we believe the demands will not only reach this 

 amount but will most likely exceed it before 

 long. 



As a consequence of the initiative of the 

 government some limit-holders have also estab- 

 lished forest nurseries and we hope the every 

 large forest operator will do the same thing. 



With a few exceptions all the seeds used at 

 the nursery have been purchased either in Am- 

 erica or in Europe, but we would like very 

 much to be able to use the indigenous seeds as 

 they offer greater chances of success. 



We would like to obtain each year from the 

 various parts of the province a sufficient supply 

 of the seeds of our white and red pine, of our 

 spruce, hemlock, cedar, white and yellow birch. 

 We will obtain not only better seed but also 

 cheaper seed. It is our ambition to produce 

 at this nursery all the seeds needed not only 

 for our work but also for the other nurseries 

 in the province and to meet this purpose we in- 

 tend to build in the near future a large seed 

 house where we will extract the seeds collected 

 after the most modern methods. 



Aim at 10 Million Seedlings. 

 Having attained this object, we could then 

 realize our second aim which is to produce to 

 not only two or three million plants per year 

 but ten to twenty million plants, if needed, in 

 the province, and I think that before long we 

 may be planting more than that. This inten- 

 sive production of plants would greatly dim- 

 inish their cost and I calculate that, if we 

 could produce here ten million plants per year 

 we would be in a position to sell them after 

 caring for them for two years, for $1.50 per 

 thousand, whereas we are now asking from 

 three to five dollars per thousand for the same 

 material. These young plants could be trans- 

 planted in the various nurseries that would be 

 established in the neighborhood of the lands to 

 be reforested so that they would be acclima- 

 tized before the final setting. 



During your visit at the nursery you will see 

 many trees of foreign origin; for example, you 

 will come across the Scotch pine which will 

 appear to you as a sturdy tree, in fact it gives 

 us great hopes for the reforestation of our 

 waste lands. The Norway spruce, though not 

 always as good as our native white spruce, will 

 also give excellent results as it grows fairly 

 well. The European and the Japanese larches 

 will certainly interest you as they appear to be 

 more immune from the attacks of the saw-fly 

 that annihilated our tamarack some thirty years 



