NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 143 



that in future we will be able to go on and discuss the matter more intelli- 

 gently and deal with it more successfully than has been done, and leave be- 

 hind a legacy to posterity which will be to them not a burden or debt, but 

 flourishing, beautiful forests abounding in wealth. 



.Mr. James Beveridge of Chatham, then read the following paper : 



v. 



THE DEPENDENCE OF BUSINESS INTERESTS ON THE FOREST. 



New Brunswick consists so largely of non-agricultural land, that the 

 business interests of the Province shall always be more or less, bound up 

 with, and dependent upon, the products of the forests. Although agricul- 

 ture flourishes in certain districts where it can take advantage of the rich 



O 



alluvial deposits chiefly found in the valleys and low lying lands, yet, taken 

 as a whole, it cannot be compared in this respect with the prairie lands of the 

 West, and one might with perfect truth say that, what wheat growing is to 

 the West, so may tree growing become to us here in the East. We possess 

 a climate admirably adapted for the cultivation of trees, and our natural 

 position together with natural advantages which the province itself .offers 

 for the pursuit of those industries that yield manufactured products for which 

 the forest supplies ithe raw materials, must be manifest to the most casual 

 observer. We possess three large rivers, namely, the Restigouche, Mira- 

 michi and St. John, which, with their tributaries, form a perfect labyrinth 

 of water ways intersecting the whole country and enabling the lumber of the 

 forests to be easily transported to seaboard, near which lie most of the im- 

 portant busihess centres. 



The industries that depend on the forest for their existence may be 

 divided into two great classes, namely. : P'irst, those employing the mechanical 

 arts; and second, those that may more strictly be described as chemical 

 industries for the successful conduct of which, applied chemistry as well as 

 engineering, is necessary. Under the first class 1 include simple log sawing 

 and all its accessories, and those other manufactures using machinery alone 

 to produce their finished products, such as ground wood pulp, furniture, either 

 wholly or in part, window frame, door, shingle and such like manufactures ; 

 whilst under the second class, I would name, all products obtained from the 

 dry distillation of wood, such as wood tar, acetic acid, charcoal, the produc- 



