Farm Forestry in the Eastern Provinces 57 



to be met with in the Western Hemisphere comprising a large 

 range of coniferous and deciduous trees among them those m^en- 

 tioned by the intrepid explorer, Jacques Cartier, when on July 1st, 

 1534, he first trod Canadian soil in the Island Province. _ His 

 Relations contain an admiring mention of our beautiful forest 

 trees and in it he enumerates with great exactness the fir, the 

 black red and white spruce, the stately hemlock, the white and 

 red pine, the larch and the cedar and the maple m four varieties; 

 the white, black, vellow and canoe birch; the wide-spreading 

 beech- the elm; the ash in variety; the oak, the aspen, the cherry 

 and manv other inferior species. The axe, the torch, mans 

 cupiditv and the utter disregard of the governing power have 

 almost swept away this precious heritage. 



Within recent years w^e have come to recognize our sorry 

 plight • we have aroused the pubhc conscience; we have at- 

 tempted to quicken the provincial authorities to some action 

 w^hich may save us from further loss, and start us out on the 

 way of retrieval. A Commission w^as appointed to examine into 

 the' case a few vears ago, and whilst their report may have little 

 technical value it has bv sounding the alarm at least manifested 

 to the apathetic farmer a condition of things he otherwise might 

 never have realized, to wit, that forest growth is essential m most 

 situations, at all events, as a protection to the farm from the 

 chilHng winds which sweep over the Gulf and adversely affect all 

 life upon the Island in winter, resulting often m many of the 

 dread diseases which come from exposure to such temperature, 

 and increasing to an extent unknown in the old days, when the 

 country was tree clad, the scourge of consumption, the Great 

 White "Plague, now a general menace. 



Forest protection is necessary to the farm, lands so that 

 water can penetrate the soil and be available for crop produc- 

 tion If the whole farm area is deprived of the advantages 

 which the forest floor affords for the conservation of the water 

 precipitated, the exposed soil hardened by the tramping of 

 cattle and the patter of raindrops, must shed it superficially 

 if it is anywise compact. As a consequence these waters are 

 not only lost to crop production but, gathering into rivulets, 

 carry great quantities of the rich soil with them as well as fur- 

 rowing the fields with gullies and runs. This carries away valu- 

 able plant food, covers the lowlands with silt, damages the roads, 

 and swelling the water courses causes them to break their bounds 

 and dissipate the water, which bv subterranean channels should 

 feed them later. In Canada to-dav it is estimated that not 

 less than two hundred miles of fertile soil are washed into rivers 

 and brooks annually, and those who examine the public accounts 

 will be surprised at the immense sums of money expended each 

 season in digging out those lost farms from the hari^ours and 



