24 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



forest fires. There is scarcely a mountain or hill in New Bruns- 

 wick from whose top one may not look down upon some scene 

 of desolation where the ravages of fire are only too evident. And 

 what is true of New Brunswick is true of the other provinces of 

 Canada. Fortunately a bountiful Nature soon clothes these 

 blackened wastes with fresh foliage. But the best parts of the 

 forest are gone; and with them often the accumulation of leaf 

 mould, the product of successive centuries of growth and decay. 



The white pine as a timber tree has almost totally disappear- 

 ed from our forests. The only large grove of red pine that I 

 know of is the one found on a ridge or moraine extending into the 

 great Nepisiguit Lake. The butternut or white walnut is be- 

 coming so scarce that it is now almost impossible to be obtained 

 at any price. The same is true of the basswood. Thousands of 

 noble hemlocks have been sacrificed for their bark. Large tim- 

 ber trees of the black spruce, which has been New Brunswick's 

 greatest source of forest wealth, are becoming scarce, and the 

 lumber operators of the present day are clearing out large por- 

 tions of what remains and pulp mills may soon make havoc of 

 the young growth. 



Of the species of forest trees in New Brunswick, upwards of 

 forty in number, the above include, with a few others, such as 

 white spruce, cedar, hacmatack, the chief commercial products 

 used for manufactures and export. The scarcity, with the con- 

 sequent higher price of these staples, has brought into use others 

 of less value, such as the hemlock, hitherto regarded only for its 

 bark; even the " almost useless" poplar is found to be serviceable. 

 Many of our hardwood trees, so-called, of which New Brunswick 

 has many fine forests, have yet been untouched with the excep- 

 tion of birches, and are destined as their uses become better 

 known, to constitute a great source of wealth to the province . 

 Furniture made from yellow birch is little inferior to walnut. 

 Rock maple, beech, elm and other hardwoods are also greatly 

 prized for furnishings and other purposes. 



A few days since I passed along a road that I had not seen 

 since a child. Then there were some trees of generous size mingl- 

 ed with smaller growth that gave a pleasant shade. Now the 

 whole character of the road seemed changed. There were a few 

 hollow, fire-eaten trunks where once stood noble trees. Black- 

 ened stumps lined the road-sides, hidden at intervals by a struggl- 

 ing tangled growth of poplar, birch and spruce. And yet there 

 are fine farms here and there, with well-cultivated meadows and 

 a few houses — very few — with shade trees around them. But 

 continued "choppings" and fires had made bare the uplands and 

 bereft them of all semblance to beauty or utility. Tree weeds 

 and blackened stumps are poor substitutes for fine trees along a 

 roadside. 



