CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 105 



Mr. NASH. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, if I understand aright there are two 

 sides to Mr. Hutt's paper. One of these is commercial forestry. So far as that goes 

 if I am a judge of experience I think the people of the country understand pretty well 

 that the Government and the lumbermen are pretty well capable of taking care of that 

 side, and that we do not need to. Wherever the interests of the lumbermen are con- 

 cerned I have always found the lumberman abundantly able to take care of himself. 

 But with regard to the other side, I do not find that the farmers have the amount of 

 technical knowledge necessary to enable them to reforest the lands that are being de- 

 pleted of their timber. But I am very happy to be able to teL you this : During the 

 last six or seven years, while speaking of the advantage that would accrue to the farm- 

 ers if they would reforest their waste lands, I find they are keenly anxious to do this 

 and perfectly understand the advantages that would be. derived from it There are 

 certain practical difficulties in the way. They have tried in many cases to reforest 

 their waste land, but they did not succeed, and the reason is simply this: That on 

 the rocky ridges where the roots never should have been all cut off at one time, after 

 the trees were cut off the action of the elements simply took away all the vegetable 

 matter on these rocks and seedlings cannot start now. When the hot sun of summer 

 beats down on these rocks the little seedlings are burnt up. They have asked me 

 how they can get over that difficulty. There is a way, of course, and I have explained 

 it as best I can. There is another difficulty along the banks of streams and spring 

 holes where trees flourish luxuriantly. Now they are swamped and flooded every 

 spring. They plant after the floods of one spring and before the seedlings can get a 

 good hold on the soil the floods of the following spring erode the surface and carry 

 away the seeds. They have not yet got into their heads the advantage of planting 

 willows to bind the surface of the soil. I believe that, through the efforts of the 

 Agricultural College and the Forestry Association these little practical difficulties 

 will be overcome, and I am glad to tell you you will find no people more ready to co- 

 operate with you and undo the mischief that has been done as far as they possibly 

 can do, than our Canadian farmers. 



Mr. GROH. I was exceedingly pleased when I heard Mr. Hutt's paper. I live 

 in the southern part of Ontario. There are two sides to this question and I feel a 

 good deal better since Mr. Nash spoke, because I find there are more of our people _ 

 who are interested in the re-stocking of our farms than I had imagined. It is an 

 important matter. We have heard that there is five per cent of forest on our farms, 

 but a great percentage of that is down in the valleys and hollows where it is too wet. 

 These swamps hold a large percentage of this wood and when the floods come down 

 the waters would go there anyway. If you discuss it from the economic or scientific 

 side it is quite plain that it is on the heights that we want our wood. I am situated 

 where the people have found the storms somewhat serious. Two years ago a storm 

 came through there that tore the fences, &c., rather badly and people began to wonder 

 if we were going to get cyclones. And only a year later another storm struck through 

 and tore a barn to pieces, and pieces of that barn were found on the fourth farm away. 

 Timbers were torn away and driven right through and into a house endways. This 

 was rather an eye-opener and the co-relation of these incidents were sufficient to con- 

 vince the farmers that the denudation of the hill-sides is perhaps responsible for this.. 

 I am pleased to know there are men here to-day who know something about and are 



