140 NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 



I sent it over to Mr. Butler, Chief Engineer of the Intercolonial Rail- 

 way, and his opinion was in accordance with mine. The difficulty heretofore 

 has been that the fire screens interfere with the draughts. This one has a 

 device that seems to overcome that and I have very great hopes it will be 

 found successful. I just mention this as something that has lately come 

 -under notice and I think is worthy of being tried. It has been already tried 

 on some railways. 



Resolution passed unanimously by the Convention. 



MR. CHARLES E. FISH, Newcastle, N. B. I have listened with great 

 pleasure and profit to the proceedings thus far and very much ground has 

 been covered and there is little left that I can say that will be new and of 

 interest to you, so that I think I would be resourceful indeed if I could say 

 anything that has not already been better said. 



However, as I am somewhat attached to this industry and very much 

 interested in it I will express to you in as few words as possible matters 

 that have come to my attention in my daily work. 



What I am about to say is purely from a home standpoint of conditions 

 as I have observed them in my daily rounds, and perhaps observations in 

 tfhe beautiful forests are as good a teacher as one could have. No doubt it 



c5 



lias occurred to most of you here, as it has to myself, that the time has now 

 -come when all that we understand as the backwoods and the bush is to be 

 elevated to a science as Forestry. It is not a danger or in any way antagon- 

 istic to the best interests of lumbermen. Its theories are old and have been 

 in practice for hundreds of years in the old countries, giving satisfactory 

 and continuous yearly results. It is so closely allied to the great industry 

 of our country that the wonder is we have not given it more attention here- 

 tofore. 



A great deal has been said here of the wealth of our forests and our 

 attention has been drawn to it very clearly, to such aa extent that it is un- 

 necessary for me to speak of it at any great length It is said we annually 

 receive about twenty-tive per cent, of our provincial revenue from our Crown 

 lands, and if we add to this what the people receive from the same source it 

 makes a pretty good proposition from the business standpoint and shows 

 pretty clearly any effort we can put forth towards the preservation of our 

 forests is indeed a duty which we owe to the present and to the future wel- 

 fare of our country. 



