THE TAMARACK GROWTH IN THE EASTERN TOWN- 

 SHIPS OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 



Thomas W. Fyles, D.C.L., F.L.S. 



It is a law of nature that no particular growth of plants shall 

 hold possession of the land in perpetuity. Sooner or later 

 destructive agents will break in upon the scene. Insect de- 

 predators, drought, fire, storm and flood — these, and the axes 

 of the lumbermen, make clearances for occupation by the 

 settler, or for Nature's re-planting. In the latter case we find that 

 the new growth is, generally speaking, different from the old. 

 The following affords a curious exemplification of this fact: — 



In 1842, when the Ashburton Treaty was made, a strip, 

 60 feet wide, was cut along the border, through the tamarack 

 swamps that extend from Canada into New Hampshire and Maine. 

 This strip is now filled up with a new growth; but the forester 

 knows directly when he strikes the line, for he finds a belt in 

 which the poplar (Populus tremuloides), the red cherry {Prunus 

 Pennsylvanica), and the Moosemissie {Pyrtis Americana), are 

 growing — the seeds of the first having been carried by the wind 

 into the Boundary, when newly cleared; and those of the last 

 two, by birds. 



Thirty years ago it was a fine sight to look, from an elevation, 

 upon the vast area of swamp land, extending through Bury, 

 Lingwick, Hampden, Ditton, and far away. Tamaracks from 

 two feet to two and a half feet in diameter, were the lords of this 

 forest-land. Today: I have the authority of Mr. Ayton Crom- 

 well and Mr. C. C. Lusk, of Cookshire, and Mr. C. H. Ward, of 

 g^ry — all experienced foresters — for stating, that not a single 

 first-growth tamarack is to be found in the whole section. And 

 like testimony comes to me from Mr. John D. Johnson, of St. 

 Thomas, and Mr. E. W. Brewster, of Compton, in regard to the 

 districts with which they are respectively acquainted. 



How was the destruction brought about? By an agent 

 seemingly insignificant and wholly unexpected — a four-winged 

 fly, belonging to the order, Hymenoptera, and named by 

 Hartig, Nematus Erichsonii. 



This fly is only about eight-tenths of an inch in expanse 

 of wings, and four-tenths in length of body. Its color is black; 

 but it "has a broad orange-red band round the abdomen. Its 

 wings are clear, with dark veins, and a conspicuous costal spot 

 on stigma. 



