Lumber Trade. 357 



in the development of the lumber industry and export 

 trade, without the need of railroads. Yet although, 

 as a consequence this trade was early developed to a 

 relatively large figure, it has not grown at as rapid a 

 rate as might have been expected, and to-day with an 

 export of less than 40 million dollars is considerably 

 below that of the United States. 



The small export trade of earlier times, having been 

 stimulated by exempting Canadian timber from paying 

 duties in the home country, or at least allowing it a 

 preferential tariff, had by 1820 grown to 15 million 

 cubic feet, all squared timber, and sent to England. 

 In 1830 it had crept up only to 20 million cubic feet, but 

 by 1850 it amounted to over 50 million cubic feet, two- 

 fifths of which was sawed material, the 2632 mills being 

 reported by the Census (1851) as having cut 776 million 

 feet B. M. By 1868, when the Dominion was formed, 

 the total export of forest products had advanced in 

 value to $18 million; the next decade, with a climax 

 year in 1873 of $26 million, saw an increase to $20 

 million, the proportion of sawn material being nearly 

 three times that of hewn wood, and the entire cut of 

 Ontario going to the United States. At that time it 

 was computed that the waste of value in shipping 

 square timber amounted for the province of Ontario 

 alone still to over $350,000 annually. At present 

 sawed lumber, deals, boards, planks, etc., forms 70 

 percent of the total export. 



In the last 20 years a steady increase in exng^ at an 

 average rate of about 3 percent per annum is noted, 

 the total in 1903 culminating at $40 million, and in the 

 following year sinking to 37.6 million. But, while 



