H2 Forests and Trees 



proper regulation, it is capable of producing permanently 

 a large supply of valuable timber. 



Other wooded regions of Manitoba, although less ex- 

 tensive, are not less important, and the following quota- 

 tions from the published report of an address by the Director 

 of Forestry for Canada refers briefly to some others : 

 ''Along the valley of the Red and Assiniboine rivers was 

 a mixed forest of elm, ash, oak, basswood and ash-leaved 

 maple, where trees were found ranging to 24 inches in 

 diameter. Rising like islands from the agricultural plains, 

 tracts like the Turtle, Riding, Duck, and Porcupine Moun- 

 tains bore forests of oak, ash and poplar in the Turtle 

 Mountains, and of spruce, jack pine, oak, elm, ash, poplar 

 and ash-leaved maple in the others. The character of the 

 virgin forest may be seen from the following extract from 

 a report of explorations made by Professor Hind on the 

 8th of November, 1858: 'I beg to subjoin the circum- 

 ference, five feet from the ground, of a few trees within 

 fifty yards of our camp on the Riding Mountains : Aspen, 



4 ft. 6 ins., 4 ft. 6 ins., 4 ft., 5 ft. ; White Spruce, 7 ft. 3 ins., 



5 ft. 6 ins., 6 ft. 6 ins., 6 ft. ; Birch, 3 ft. 6 ins. ; Poplar, 

 4 ft. 9 ins., 4 ft. 6 ins. These trees represent, as far as ob- 

 servation permitted, the general character of the forest 

 on the summit plateau of the Riding Mountains.'" 



This description would apply to the other prairie prov- 

 inces with but slight modifications. The river valleys are 

 more or less completely wooded, as are also a number of 

 isolated elevations such* as Moose Mountains, Cypress 

 Hills, Wood Mountain, Touchwood Hills and many similar 



