70 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 



adapted to well drained, sandy soil. The lower Carboniferous rocks are 

 around the borders of the coal basin, and in the valleys of the southern hills, 

 such as Sussex and Belle Isle, and are rather extensive. They are usually 

 bright red in color, containing much carbonate of lime and gypsum and 

 from the best upland soils of the Province, being of remarkable fertility . 



This triangle of Carboniferous rocks lies between two diverging belts ol 

 crystalline rocks, each traversed by bands of granite and syenite. The north- 

 ern belt extends from near McAdam to the Bay of Chaleur, and the southern 

 from St. Stephen nearly eastward to the head of the Bay of Fundy. These 

 granite bands were formerly well wooded, but together with the adjacent 

 lands are apt to be heavily bowlder-strewn. Granite which contains much 

 feldspar, seems to be favourable to the growth of beech, as is also limestone. 

 With the beech we generally find yellow birch and rock maple. 



To the north of the northern belt of crystalline rocks is a high plateau 

 of Silurian rocks, much tilted and abounding in springs the source of the 

 principal rivers. The plateau is underlaid by calcareous slates and lime- 

 stones, and overlaid in places by rocks bearing gypsum; an extension of the 

 well known Aroostook region of Maine. This plateau possesses in the main 

 very fertile soils and supports a rich and varied forest growth. 



The northern highlands are hilly or even mountainous in places, well 

 wooded and watered. The southern highlands are not so high, but broken 

 and irregular. Near the coast they are almost bare of soil, but still include 

 large areas which are the seat of extensive lumbering operations. Most of 

 the rivers, especially the St. John, are bordered by intervales and contain 

 many islands made fertile by annual flooding. There are extensive dyke 

 marshes at the head of the Bay of Fundy around Dorchester and Sackville, 

 which are also very productive. 



The relation between forest type and site is here just as marked as else- 

 where, and has already been hinted at in the description of the geological 

 formations. Just as the forester can base types on physical factors, the main 

 one of which is soil, so the skilled geologist can often determine the geological 

 structure and map the soils on the basis of the tree growth. Thei same relation- 

 ship between habitat and the lesser vegetation as recognized by the ecologist, 

 can be applied in a still greater degree to trees which group themselves 

 according to sylvicultural characteristics. It is only on the border lines 

 that either the ecologist or the forester are apt to make blunders. 



The forest types in New Brunswick, differ very little from those found 

 in Maine. We have the northern hardwoods, made up of beech, yellow birch 

 and sugar maple, often mixed with red and white spruce and hemlock; the 

 same spruce flats, slopes and swamps as there, besides pure even-aged stands 

 of fir or northern white cedar. We have also the same barren lands covered 

 with a growth of poplar, bird cherry and grey birch, which form an interest- 

 ing problem. The forest as a whole, with the exception of white pine and 

 larch, is composed of tolerant, rapidly growing species, with great repro- 

 ductive power. Anyone coming from the States is simply amazed at the 

 dense young growth which seeds in on openings and cut-over lands ; so thick 

 in fact that it is almost impenetrable. It is such young growth as this, which 

 carefully protected from fire, constitutes a great part of the future wealth 

 of the Province and concerning whose treatment we need the help and 

 advice of members of this Association. 



The heavy snows which come in November or later make the conditions 

 ideal in New Brunswick for the felling of trees with the least possible dam- 

 age to the timber itself, or the young growth. So silently are the trees 



