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according to the system followed in the state forests of Northern Europe, a 

 certain proportion of full-grown timber should be disposed of by public competi- 

 tion the trees to be removed by the purchasers, the number being regulated by 

 the requirements of the locality and the yield of the reserve." 



To the question as to what would be the probable effect on the prairies of 

 the North-west if the settlers were under obligation to plant a certain number of 

 acres of trees about their farms, it was replied that no provision would be likely 

 to be of such general advantage, nor one better calculated to promote the welfare 

 of the inhabitants, but under existing circumstances such a proposal was hardly 

 practicable. It would be unreasonable to expect that an immigrant should know 

 what plants would thrive on the soil he occupied. Very few settlers, indeed, are 

 likely to have any experience in arboriculture, and with the great majority it is 

 only too probable that the struggle for existence during the first years of their 

 occupancy would preclude experiments involving any additional outlay of money 

 or labor. To impose such an obligation on the colonist, it would be incumbent 

 on the government to provide him with the means of fulfilling it, and this could 

 be done only by establishing nurseries in the treeless sections, whence the seed- 

 lings adapted to the locality might be distributed, either gratuitously, or at a 

 very low price, with the needful instructions for their cultivation. These nur- 

 series might be owned by the government or their formation encouraged by 

 grants in aid to county or municipal authorities or associations. 



In reference to the maintenance of supplies in the north of Europe, Mr. 

 Thayne replied that where the supply is limited, as in Germany, the laws are 

 very stringent in some States, going so far as to prevent lands once under forest 

 being devoted permanently to any other purpose ; in others, again, private land- 

 holders have been prohibited from felling timber in the vicinity of streams, or 

 wherever the forest inspectors consider the arable land adjacent requires shelter 

 from the wind. Throughout the whole empire the forests are subjected to the 

 watchful supervision of a specially trained corps of officials, and no efforts are 

 spared to render them as productive as is compatible with their preservation, 

 which latter is the first consideration. In Sweden, the large forests owned by 

 the government (over 5,000,000 acres) are strictly preserved, trees of mature 

 growth being sold at so much per stump, standing, the felling and removal being 

 carried out at the purchaser's expense, but under the supervision of forest officials. 

 Quite recently a law has been passed prohibiting the felling of trees under 

 certain dimensions, but it only applies to the northern portion of the kingdom. 



It was proposed to apply it throughout the southern portion as well, but the 

 opposition was so strong that the minister who introduced the measure resigned 

 in consequence of its partial defeat. However, the whole tendency of legislation 

 in the timber-producing countries of Europe is towards imposing restrictions 

 upon forest owners, and investing the government with greater control over their 

 lands, and there is little doubt that any marked decrease in the supply would be 

 the signal for measures of a far more stringent character. 



Being asked as to whether the supply in Norway and Sweden was diminish- 

 ing, notwithstanding the precautions that had been taken, the witness replied, 

 that in the former country the decrease had been very considerable, many of the 

 mill-owners being now compelled to purchase logs of large dimensions from 

 Sweden. In the latter country there are man}^ districts denuded of all the best 

 timber, and it may be said that the annual consumption is, throughout, larger 

 than the annual growth. The falling off in the over- worked districts has hitherto 

 had no perceptible effect upon the export trade, owing to the extension of the 

 railway system, which has opened up many sections of forest land previously 

 untouched. It is alleged by some that the extent of forest that may be made 



