The Montreal Forest Congress. 151 



(3) The division of timbered country into districts, and 

 the appointment of forest poHce, under a superintendent with 

 magisterial powers, whose duty it shall be to detect and punish 

 offenders and provide for the extinguishing of fires. 



(4) The cost of maintenance of this protective force might 

 partially be met by the imposition of a moderate tax on the 

 parties owning or leasing timber lands. 



Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London, (now Dr. Wm. Saunders, 

 of Ottawa), read a paper on "The Growth of Poplar Trees for 

 the Manufacture of Paper and Charcoal." Dr. Saunders spoke 

 of the extensive demand for poplar for paper making which in 

 many sections made it difficult to supply the demand from the 

 immediate neighborhood, with the result that this wood, pre- 

 viousty of little value, commanded a price nearly or quite equal 

 to that for the most valuable kinds. The paper gave descrip- 

 tions of the different species of poplar and their distribution. 

 'It is a notable commentary on the change which has taken place 

 in paper manufacture since that time to observe that in the dis- 

 cussion on this paper spruce was not even mentioned. 



In a communication from Mr. Edward Jack, of Frederic- 

 ton, N.B., the following interesting statement was made in re- 

 gard to New Brunswick:^ — 



"For more than twenty years I have been engaged as 

 land surveyor and timber explorer in New Brunswick, and have 

 followed the white pine down to the mountains of North Caro- 

 lina and East Tennessee and from my experience in the sub- 

 ject of woods can say that the neglect of forestry in New Bruns- 

 wick and Nova Scotia, as well as in the Province of Quebec, is 

 really lamentable. In New Brunswick we make no distinction 

 between timber and farming lands, allowing and encouraging 

 settlers to locate themselves upon spruce and hemlock land, 

 the damaging result of which policy can be estimated by the 

 loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the unfortunate 

 settler finds himself very often worse off at the end of ten years 

 than he was at the date of settlement. A study of New Bruns- 

 wick Forestry and a proper map accompanied by a written re- 

 port would show intending settlers where to place themselves, 

 as our spruce and pine lands, as well as the greater part of our 

 hemlock lands, are unfit for settlement purposes, being poor and 

 requiring much manure to render them productive. One-third 

 of New Brunswick is in the millstone grit formation. This was 

 once covered with spruce, pine and hemlock, being well adapted 

 for the growth of these trees, and had we proper forestry regula- 

 tions the growth of these woods on the dry and sandy plains of 

 the millstone grit district might be made a constant source of 

 profit and revenue to the Province. * * * * j think we should 

 first find out from the explorations of competent and reliable 



