NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 167 



and co-operative, work going on, paid for by the Government, by the States, 

 by the Universities, and by various voluntary associations. This work is e- 

 sential in our conditions and as a rule it has proved very profitable. Correct 

 sentiment is being- created, sound information is being spread, and, together 

 with the trend of events, it is gradually improving the character of actual 

 forest management. 



To review then, the things which I can tell you of as useful elsewhere, 

 and as far as one can see likety to prove serviceable in the conditions of New 

 Brunswick, are : 1st, Government ownership of the tracts of permanent 

 forest ; 2nd, Skilful and business-like administration of the same ; and, 

 3rd, Well-directed lines of public education. 



The value of these ideas to you will depend on their correct application, 

 and here an outsider, though from only so far away as the adjacent State of 

 Maine, is bound to speak with diffidence. Every situation has its own possi- 

 bilities and difficulties, and these are to be successfully dealt with only by 

 men familiar with them in all their bearings and aspects. If, therefore, I go 

 further, and consider application to New Brunswick conditions, the friendli- 

 ness of a near neighbor and the interest bred by two seasons of timber work 

 in the Province, and acquaintance with many of your officials and business 

 men, will have to be my excuse for doing so. 



First of all, you are in a splendid situation as regards the ownership of 

 the land. To whom or to what circumstances the established land policy of 

 this Province was originally due, I do not know, but, at any rate, its pursuit 

 till the present time leaves you in splendid shape for forest administration. 

 You have not to acquire land by costly purchase, as most of our states must 

 do. The land is yours, and Government and people have but to exercise 

 their prerogative, and make up their minds, in order to settle all essential 

 questions of management. There is, too, another great advantage, in that the 

 land is a source of revenue. You have not to draw on the pockets of the 

 people in order to pay the costs of improved administration. 



In connection with administration itself very many questions arise. There 

 are the sale of timber, the regulation of cutting, economy in operation and in 

 use, fire protection for the standing forests, the system of exploration and 

 survey which shall yield and preserve the detailed information on which 

 alone intelligent administration of a forest property can be based. The value 

 of each of these things I am sure must be understood. They are what a private 



