Canadian Forestry Journal, January, 191'. 



901 



thoughl is given by the general pub- 

 lic that things may be different some 

 day; and unless we carefully husband 

 our resources, the lime may come, 

 when it will be realized that Canada's 

 forest wealth is giving out. 



A word of warning is intended to 

 be sounded in this article,— a word of 

 very earnest and serious warning. 

 At the present moment, if one be 

 asked which forest trees are the most 

 important in Canada, one would un- 

 hesitatingly reply, the Pines— the 

 White Pine proper and Western White 

 Pine. 



Are you aware that a white pine 

 forest in Northern Europe is a thing 

 of the past? The White Pine, from 

 its original home in America was 

 quickly introduced into Europe, be- 

 cause of its great commercial use- 

 fulness. But now there is no White 



Pine to speak of; it has been replaced 

 by an inferior pine. Why ? A 

 fungous disease is to blame. It 

 appeared, worked for years in silence, 

 nobody suspected anything wrong, 

 and then trees began dying here and 

 there — slowly at first, rapidly later 

 on. Then the eyes of the people were 

 opened too late, far too late, the 

 disease was so firmly established. 

 Then the governments realized the 

 position, and planted trees not sub- 

 ject to this disease. They fought the 

 disease; but like a vast fire the 

 epidemic was beyond control. They 

 could do naught but look on. Steps 

 were taken to study the disease; but 

 it took years before the cause became 

 known; and, before it could be fought, 

 the white pines had succumbed. The 

 Disease referred to was the White 

 Pine Blister Bust. 



A DESTRUCTIVE PINE DISEASE IMPORTED FROM EUROPE 



This disease was unknown in the 

 continent of America; at any rate, 

 if it did exist in early times, it cannot 

 have been a virulent or destructive 

 disease. When the white pine was 

 introduced into Europe, the Blister 

 Rust, which, before this time, must 

 have been present somewhere,— some 

 say in Eastern Europe or Serbia^ — 

 found a very suitable host, and repaid 

 hospitality by killing its host. There 

 existed in European countries great 

 tracts of land suitable for the raising 

 of pine seedlings. Millions and 

 millions were raised in Europe, few 

 for their own use, but mainly for 

 export, for export, curious as it may 

 seem, to their native haunt the con- 

 tinent of America. Had one but 



lived years ago, and put a stop to this 

 importation! Sure enough the dis- 

 ease came to America's shores with 

 these seedhngs. It doubtless arrived 

 much earlier than its actual discovery, 

 for it probably took years to become 

 acclimatised — or, perhaps, it died 

 out with the first pines it killed before 

 spreading further. Who knows ? 

 Before the year 1914 the disease was, 

 to all intents and purposes, unknown 

 here. But in 1914, it appeared in one 

 or two localities at first, was im- 

 mediately recognized, and is since 

 being persistently fought. Europe 

 has returned America's generosity in 

 the meanest way; the disease found 

 its way from that continent into 

 America, and now threatens our own 

 White Pine forests. 



THE PINE BLISTER RUST REPRESENTS A SERIOUS FOE 



Are we going to profit from the 

 experiences of Europe? We mustl 

 This is the only answer possible. We 

 mustprotect this most important lum- 

 ber tree in our country. It is not those 

 alone will suffer, whose interests are 



in the lumber trade. Think of the 

 thousands of homes depending 

 directly upon the returns from such 

 industry. True there are other trees; 

 but the White Pine, is commercially, 

 the most important tree, and, I shall 



