Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1918 



1973 



of the fields and forest, set about 

 improving his condition. 



He found that in the wild state 

 every genus of tree consists of one 

 or more species or strongly marked 

 individual sorts. For instance, the 

 wild cherry, the sour cherry, the 

 mazzard cherry, etc. These species 

 in their natural state exactly repro- 

 duce themselves. That is, they come 

 true from seed. This they have 

 done for untold generations and will 

 continue to do as long as they exist 

 under natural conditions only. 

 Cultivating New Species. 



On the other hand, suppose we 

 gather the seed of one of these 

 species and plant it in our gardens. 

 \Ve shall hnd that the leaves and 

 habit of growth of many of the seed- 

 lings it produces do not entirely 

 resemble the original species, while 

 of course having some of its charac- 

 teristics, and when they come into 

 bearing there will also be a great 

 diversity in the size, color, and flavor 

 of the fruit. Each one that differs 



from the original type constitutes a 

 new variety. Once in possession of a 

 new variety — an artificial product — 

 especially if it has marked dilTerences 

 or shows improvement over the orig- 

 inal, we have in our hands the best 

 material for the improving process. 



Why do not varieties produce the 

 same from seed? Why if we plant 

 the stone of a Lombard Plum will 

 it not always i)roduce a Lombard 

 Plum, or if we plant the seed of the 

 Fameuse apple will we not always 

 get a Fameuse? It will be remem- 

 bered that our garden varieties of 

 fruits are not natural forms, they are 

 the artificial products of our culture. 

 They have two strong tendencies: 

 one to improve, the other to return to 

 the wild state. Between these two 

 tendencies it will be generally seen 

 how unlikely it is for the progeny of 

 varieties to reappear in the same 

 forms. In fact, if culture were aban- 

 doned for a few years, cultivated 

 varieties would disappear and return 

 to their original forms. 



Canada's Tree Farm of 250 Million Acres 



{From Dominion's Royal Commission Report.) 



The forest resources of Canada 

 undoubtedly form one of the most 

 valuable assets af the Empire. The 

 extent of the timber lands of the 

 Dominion is so vast and so varied in 

 character that no adequate survey of 

 their area and commercial value 

 has yet been undertaken. Estimates 

 of the Forestry Branch of the De- 

 partment of the Interior place the 

 extent of land covered by timber in 

 the Dominion at between five hun- 

 dred million and six hundred miUion 

 acres, or about a quarter of the land 

 area of Canada. A large proportion 

 of this, however, does not yield com- 

 mercial timber. Estimates of the 

 amount of merchantable timber vary 

 greatly. The Minister of the De- 

 partment of the Interior has given 

 us a figure of 250,000,000 acres as the 

 estimated area covered with trees 

 which could be used for sawing into 



timber. In addition, there is land 

 covered with timber which is valuable 

 as prlpwood, and for other purposes. 

 The main distribution of the com- 

 mercial timber throughout the Do- 

 minion has been estimated by the 

 Forestry Branch of the Department 

 of the Interior to be as follows: — 



British Columbia 50,000,000 



Alberta, Saskatchewan, 



Manitoba 11,000,000 



Ontario 70,000,000 



Quebec :. 100,000,000 



New Brunswick 9,000,000 



Nova Scotia 5,000,000 



In the north of Alberta there are 

 very large areas covered with wood 

 which is of no commercial value, 

 except for local purposes such as 

 firewood and fencing. The North- 

 West Territories and the Yukon 



