32 NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 



in these mountains. I. scarcely feel like giving an opinion on a matter that 

 I am not personally acquainted with, but as far as occurs to me on the spur 

 of the moment, it seems it may be possible that you might pass legislation 

 making it profitable, even to the holders of land in the upper valleys to retain 

 the forests. In most cases, the land of the upper valleys is more valuable 

 for timber than it is for agriculture. I am very sorry that this question was 

 just sprung a few minutes ago, and that I have not had time to give it any 

 special consideration. I think it is probably one that many of you here, 

 kuowino- the local conditions, will be better able to discuss than I can. 



ra ' 



I might say, Mr. Chairman, that a few years ago, I started to write a 

 work on "The Far ner's Wood Lot," and I gathered what information I 

 could, but I found .'Iiat I was getting into deep water, because it would 

 require a great deal of research, to find what powers the municipalities had 

 in the matter, and then there was the question of taxation, a very important 

 one indeed the question is, one that has not been dealt with in any Province, 

 I know, that is, the reservation from taxation of wood land. It is most un- 

 fair the way wood land is frequently taxed. I do not know whether it is so 

 in this Province or not, but it is so in many of the older parts, and the owner 

 of wood land has not the inducement he would have to keep his timber, 

 because he is taxed every year on a product that will only mature in a life- 

 time or more,, You can easily see how unfair it is to tax the wood lot every 

 year at its value, when it can only be reaped once in perhaps 75 or 100 

 years. There is a question that perhaps a little thought might be devoted 

 to, as to the release from taxation of certain wood lots. The Province of 

 Ontario has recently passed an Act in reference to that, the release of certain 

 lands from taxation of wood lots. There are many questions that a con- 

 sideration of this matter would give rise to and that would bear on the ques- 

 tion that the Attorney General has suggested. 



PROF. G. U. HAY A matter came up this morning in Ex-Governor 

 McClelan's paper about the growth of Black Walnut, and the fact that we 

 are rather too far north here for its successful growth. I am inclined to 

 think that in the good land of New Brunswick perhaps the Black Walnut 

 would flourish. I have a tree growing on my place at Westfield that is ten 

 years old now, and it has grown fully as well as other trees of native growth 

 that were planted about the same time. Of course, the black walnut is one 

 of the most valuable trees, and if anything could be done to promote its 

 growth here, it would be very well. Our White Walnut, or Butternut, is 

 almost exhausted now. I was talking with a dealer in woods a little while 



