120 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



mental tree, and is well worth cultivating. There are other 

 varieties, one with dark brown bark, growing on the margins of 

 lakes and streams, not so large as the first named, and another, 

 a mere bush. 



Cherry — Prunus emarginata. — The range of this tree is 

 principally on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland, 

 although smaller specimens occur in parts of the upper mainland. 

 In the first-named sections, it ordinarily attains a size of from six 

 to twelve inches, and probably forty feet high. The bark, a 

 reddish brown color, was used by the natives for fastening the 

 feathers to their arrows when they used those w^eapons for shoot- 

 ing aquatic animals, as the water does not affect it as is the 

 case with sinew, which was ordinarily used ; it was, and is now, 

 also used in the ornamental part of basket w^ork, mats, etc. 

 Growing in the open and when covered with its white blossoms or 

 red fruit, it forms an ornamental tree. The fruit is, however, 

 inedible, being very bitter and astringent. A prototype of 

 P. emarginata, resembhng it in every particular, occurs at 

 Nelson, and probably in other parts, the fruit of which is acid, 

 without any trace of bitterness, and is used for jelly-making. 

 The only other congener of this genus is the Choke Cherry, 

 {Prunus demissa) a mere bush. It is plentiful in the upper 

 country, and occurs in isolated patches on Vancouver Island. 



That the homestead lands of the United States are nearly 

 exhausted is shown by a Bill which went into effect July 1st, 

 which makes provisions for homesteads on forest reserves. To 

 most Canadians this will seem a retrograde measure, though the 

 conditions are so different in the two countries that what may be 

 considered a necessity in the United States need not be thought 

 of in Canada. With the exeption of certain counties in California 

 and South Dakota, the new regulations apply to all forest 

 reserves. They provide that where lands comprised in a forest 

 reserve are chiefly valuable for agriculture and ma}^ be occupied 

 for agricultural purposes, without injur}^ to the forest reserve, 

 and which are not needed for public purposes, they may be 

 opened up for entry in accordance with the provisions of the 

 homestead laws and the new Act. The Act goes so far as to 

 provide that even when the land is covered by merchantable 

 timber, it may be opened for settlement upon strong evidence of 

 its value for agricultural purposes, both as to production and 

 accessibility to a market. 



