22 Forests and Trees 



used for other purposes and is suitable for those purposes. 

 Good farm land is not producing at its best when left in 

 forest. The best thing to do with it is to remove the forests 

 and devote it to a more fruitful purpose. Of course the 

 timber should not be wasted, if waste can be avoided. In 

 the early settlement of Canada it was impossible to clear 

 the land and not waste the timber. There was so much 

 forest, that no market could be found except a very limited 

 one near the sea coast. The destruction of magnificent 

 forests for the purpose of securing land could not then be 

 avoided and need not now be deplored. 



There is a present danger, however, which comes as a 

 result of the early struggle with the woods. The removal 

 of the trees to make room for field crops was such a serious 

 matter that a tree came to be looked upon as the natural 

 enemy of man. Trees were so plentiful that their presence 

 was taken for granted and their value simply overlooked. 

 Clearing was so slow and laborious that for a time it was 

 the chief work of the settler, and any means he could em- 

 ploy he thought lawful. There is no doubt that an almost 

 total disregard of the value of the forest and a tendency 

 to destroy it or permit its destruction are legacies which 

 the present generation has received from pioneer days. 



Our inexhaustible forest resources once formed a favorite 

 subject with speakers and writers, who thought more of a 

 high-sounding phrase than of truth. We now face the 

 facts and realize that our forests are not only not inex- 

 haustible, but are within a measurable distance of being 

 exhausted, and that if the rate of devastation should con- 



