500 



Ca)i(iciia)i I'orcstry Magazine, November, ip20 



cal Survey, in his report to the Govern- 

 ment in 1896, entirely confirms this, lie 

 speaks of all Southern Labrador to 54 

 (lej^rees N. latitude as a subarctic forest 

 belt consisting of nine varieties of trees. 

 Tt is continuous with the exception of 

 the summits of rocky Iiills. In latitude 

 55 he states more than half the country 

 is treeless, but as far north as 58 valleys 

 and lake edges are wooded. lilack 

 spruce (picea nijira) constitutes, he 

 claims, 90 per cent, of the trees and, next 

 to it. and more liardy than it, is Larix 

 Americana. \\. I'>. Delabarre of IJrown 

 University substantiates Low's state- 

 ments except for saying that the trees 

 near the coast itself are limited to the 

 protected valleys and bay heads. Per- 

 sonally I have visited the bottoms of most 

 of the fyords as far north as Kikkeroak- 

 tokak (Finger Bay), just north of 

 Nain, and then west round Cape Chidly 

 into LTngava Bay. At the head of Nain 

 Bay, 40 miles inside or west of Nain, and 

 60 miles from the outer islands, the forest 

 was very dense on the hillsides and of 

 good spruce. Along the rivers and val- 

 leys between Cape Harrison and Hamil- 

 ton Inlet and north as far as Hopedale 

 there is also quite a lot of forest. I have 

 seen from Big River in Adlavik Bay 

 spars over seventy feet long floated out. 

 But how far into the land the forest runs 

 there, I am unable to say. There is no 

 timber on the coast line north of Hebron, 

 and little inside Cape Mugford till the 

 heads of the bays are reached, or the 

 valley of Georges River. The Valleys 

 of the Grand River and the Norwest 

 River, the Kenaonou, Kenamish, anil 

 Mulligan's river in Hamilton Inlet have 

 all a good quantity of timber that would 

 serve for paper pulp many years, and 

 afiford some for lumber of good size. 



With some University students I made 

 a tour into the country this summer at the 

 bottom of Lewis Bay to look at the tim- 

 ber, where we have at last succeeded in 

 obtaining just 25 square miles on the ex- 

 treme seaboard and have been instru- 

 mental in starting a small mill that is 

 employing 40 families. The land is a 

 series of hills and valleys, the latter filled 

 with lakes and the sheltered hillsides be- 

 ing covered with excellent timber. These 

 self-draining slopes are apparently far 



tlie best for the tree growth, although 

 tlie ability of the ground to hold uj) tall 

 trees in lieavy gales of wind is limited 

 to some extent. On the almost per])en- 

 dit-nlrir sides of the lofty cliffs that flank 

 the extreme northern fyords. I have 

 seen tlie whole ground covering of the 

 entire hill face that hap slipped off, 

 carrying every vestige of vegetation with 

 it in lieadlong ruin into one hugh mass at 

 tile foot of the cliff's. 



Some 70 feet Hii^h 

 The valley of Grand River up to tlie 

 I*"alls has been burnt over an:l the origi- 

 nnal big spruce deteriorated into smaller 

 timber, though in many places fine logs 

 for sawing into lumber abound. There 

 is endless power in these rivers that can 

 be utilized if needed. Round the Falls 

 itself the trees are mostly spruces and 

 according to Eugene Delano and A. P. 

 Low, are 70 feet in height. An experi- 

 enced lumberman, Mr. Martin, of St. 

 Johns, Newfoundland, who recently 

 made a personal investigation of parts 

 of the coast tells me that nothing but 

 lack of labor, and the inability to obtain 

 sound titles to land grants because the 

 boundary question remains unsettled, 

 prevent profitable pulp and paper indus- 

 tries being opened on the East Labrador 

 Coast. Manufacturing there should be 

 very cheap and though shipping to Eur- 

 ope would probably have to be made be- 

 tween late June and early December, 

 the distance is so short and so safe, that 

 commercial results, as successful as those 

 of Lord Northcliffe's mills in Central 

 Newfoundland, should be quite possible. 



Not So Cold in Labrador. 

 The actual temperatures on Labrador 

 are not nearly as severe as further from 

 the seaboard. The minimum tempera- 

 ture has scarcely ever been known to be 

 as low as 40 degrees F. This was great- 

 ly impressed upon me when the very 

 successful mills at Iroquois Falls, Ont- 

 ario, were being ^started. A hundred men 

 from Newfoundland an 1 Labrador went 

 to work there. Practically none remain- 

 ed long and all to wdiom I spoke com- 

 plained of it being too cold for them. 

 All of my colleagues, both doctors and 

 nurses, who have visited in Labrador 

 have thoroughlv enjove 1 the winter 



