CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 71 



THE FOREST SITUATION IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 



C. G. PICHE, M.F., FORESTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CROWN LANDS OF THE 



PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 



Our forest industry goes back to the opening years of the last century. 

 Under the French regime, except for the shipment of masts to the dock yards of La 

 Rochelle and for some small ship building done at Quebec, this industry was never 

 important. England herself appeared, at the close of the conquest, to avoid the 

 use of our wood. 



Our first exportations, really worthy of this name, began with the Napoleonic 

 blockade. The English, seeing the ports of the continent closed to them, turned 

 continually to the colonies to obtain the wood which they needed, and thus our 

 foreign export, which was fifty-two tons in 1800, had attained the figure of 6,CCO 

 tons twenty years later. 



In spite of the resumption of commerce with the ports of the Baltic, the Can- 

 adian woods retained the favour which they had acquired during the war, and our 

 market soon extended to the continental countries. 



To-day we export wood to the four quarters of the globe. In 1906, we fur- 

 nished to Europe alone more than fifteen millions of dollars worth. When our 

 neighbours had exhausted the forests of the eastern part of the United States they 

 also turned to us to make up a part of their deficit, and in constantly increasing 

 quantities. Our exportation of wood to the United States has thus .increased from 

 $8,925,000, which it was in 1870, to more than $23,085,000 in 1906. 



Economists agree in admitting that there are not more than three countries 

 in the whole world which are capable of exporting commercial woods; these are 

 Russia, Scandinavia and Canada. Nevertheless, for some years, our rivals appear 

 to have yielded the first place to us and it is almost certain that we shall be soon 

 the sole providers of the world. 



What a fine future for our country if we wisely and providently manage our . 

 stores of wood. 



Our commerce seems called upon to assume a colossal development. The 

 capital engaged in the various wood industries rose last year to more than 151 

 millions of dollars. The products of these manufactures were* estimated at 112 

 million dollars. These figures are enormous and have doubled in twenty years. 

 Nevertheless we are not yet at the height of our prosperity. 



QUEBEC'S POSITION. 



Amongst the provinces of the Dominion, Quebec holds a prominent place in 

 the forest industry, as much by the extent of her forests as by her numerous manu- 

 factories, such as saw, pulp and paper mills. Moreover, we have at our command 

 remarkable natural resources. Thus our water courses, besides allowing us to 

 convey our wood to the mills without too much expense, furnish us with consider- 

 able hydraulic power. Our St. Lawrence harbours are the very finest and give us 

 easy access to European markets. Our railroads and our canals, on the other 

 hand, secure easy intercourse with the United States. In one word, nothing is 

 lacking, absolutely nothing, to our prosperity in this industry. 



If we are willing to exploit our forests in an economical way, it is easy to 



