NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 35 



vaJue, is of course evident to everyone. There is the product of wood, which 

 is used, and will be for all time to come, for building, for construction 

 of public works, such as bridges, for the construction of railways, 

 for the construction of ships and for many other practical utilities ; 

 and when the children have pointed out to them the great value of the 

 forest products of our country along these lines, tin y will be more interested 

 in the Forestry question and interested in all movements looking towards 

 forest preservation the preservation of the forests of our country. 



Then, there is the matter of forest protection I think the matter wag 

 touched upon this morning from my point of view, 1 think the children in 

 our schools might be very largely taught the various items in the subject of 

 forest protection. We all know the value of forests to regulate the flow of 

 water in our rivers. It is a matter of common observation to us, and might 

 be made a matter of common observation in any school, to see how, where 

 the forests have been cut away from any hill-side, the rush of water in the' 

 spring tears away the soil, and how its mad rush to the ocean causes a largO 

 amount of danger from floods. In the City of Montreal, of late years, where 

 very destructive floods have occurred, it has been shown to be largely due 

 to the cutting away of the forests at the head of the rivers. So, I think this 

 should be made a subject of observation in every public school of the 

 Province, an<! would be a very practical one along this line. I have in mind 

 a stream, where I used to spend many a day when I was a boy, dangling a 

 line, with a pin hook on the end, for trout. Later, the forest growth along 

 the stream was largely cut away for the purposes of fire- wood, and what was 

 left, after the cutter was through, was largely destroyed by fire, and the 

 stream dried up every summer, so that there was a lack of water supply 

 for the people along the stream. Recently, however, I have seen that a 

 considerable growth of wood, a very dense growth in some parts, has grown 

 up along the banks of that stream, and of late years the stream has not 

 gone dry in summer, but there is plenty of water there ; and I feel that that 

 is what is happening on a large scale in respect to all the feeders of the 

 streams of our Province, and although we may not see it so plainly with 

 regard to the River St. John, which is such a large stream, still in time we 

 will see its effect even on this magnificent river of ours. 



Then there is the protection against wind afforded by the forest. We 

 all know the benefit of a sheltered locality, for building and for all purposes, 

 even in this country of mildest climate. There is also the protection against 

 snow and land-slides from the steeper hills of the Province, *hich is brought 



