6 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



who have experience in these matters — he told me that, when 

 the crop of pine was cut off, the new crop to spring up would 

 consist largely of poplar, and poplars grew faster than the pine 

 or hardwood trees. And he said: — If you take care to plant pine 

 seeds underneath these poplars, the young pines will grow up 

 shaded by the faster-growing trees. The pines, in their efforts 

 to reach the sunlight will grow tall and without limbs. After a 

 time, when they overtop the poplars, their life is assured. If 

 this be the case, it seems to me we have here a method of re- 

 producing our trees and of having, for all time, a constant supply 

 (applause). It is a natural thought that ,we shall not live to 

 see this young generation of trees at their full growth; but, as 

 has been stated a moment ago by His Excellency the Governor 

 General, we must not think alone for ourselves, we must think 

 of the prosperity of Canada in the days when all of us shall be 

 sleeping in our graves. This is the sentiment, I am sure, that 

 actuates this entire assembly. (Loud applause.) 



The next thing I would like the Convention to consider is 

 the protection of the forest against its man}^ enemies. For the 

 forest, unfortunately has many enemies. Man is bad enough 

 we all agree; but man is not so bad as the insects, and the in- 

 insects are not so bad as fire. The fire is the great enemy of the 

 forest. Nothing can be sadder for us to consider than that, 

 during the summer months there are miles and miles of forest 

 destroyed by fire. This goes on every year. Speaking of my 

 own experience, it has been going on every since I can remember. 

 It goes on, perhaps, not to so great an extent as in former years, 

 but there is far too much of it yet. (Hear, hear.) I was talking, 

 a few years ago, with one of the lumbermen of the city of Ottawa, 

 and he made the statement to me that the enormous quantity 

 of lumber taken to market out of the Ottawa valley does not 

 represent more than ten per cent of the timber that has been 

 destroyed by fire. If this is a true statement the fact is simply 

 appalling. Last week, I met one of the lumber kings of the 

 Ottawa valley, who asked me, "What are you going to do at 

 this Forestry Convention?" I said, "We are going to compel 

 the lumbermen to protect the forest against fire." He replied, 

 "Why, the lumbermen are doing more in that direction now 

 than all the rest of the communit}^ put together." I said, "I 

 quite believe it. But that is not saying very much for the lum- 

 bermen — (applause and laughter) — because the rest of the com- 

 munity does absolutely nothing to protect the forest, and the 

 lumbermen may well be doing more without doing enough." 

 (Applause.) 



What measures ought to be taken to protect the forests 

 against the raging fires that every year consimie such an appalling 

 quantity of the best timber of the country. I know that some 



