46 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



HON. F. J. SWEENEY (Moncton) asked: Is it possible the St. Law- 

 rence River could be dammed without the consent of the Canadian Govern- 

 ment? 



HON. MR. SIFTON: No. But what we want is to get public opinion 

 awakened to prevent the Government from giving its consent. 



The reading of papers was then taken up. 



LUMBERING ON THE MIRAMICHI. 

 HON. J. P. BURCHILL, M.P.P., NELSON, N.B. 



From the earliest days of the settlement of the northern counties of the 

 Province of New Brunswick, lumbering in different forms has been the chief 

 industry of the people. Some other branches of industry have been prose- 

 cuted, such as fishing in various forms, and farming, the latter depending 

 largely on the success of lumbering, but the main source of livelihood and 

 employment has been the Forest. Subject as its prosecution is to so much 

 chance, and so many contingencies, such as freshets, or the lack of them, 

 weather conditions, labor conditions, market conditions, both for supplies 

 and the product itself, it can scarcely be said to have been a very profitable 

 business, and, as a result, comparatively few of those who continued in it, 

 have retired with much to show for the labor and energy expended; nor has 

 the Province itself received much in return for the vast amount of wealth 

 that has been extracted from its forests. 



The first form in which lumbering was carried on in this section was the 

 getting out of white pine timber, a species of wood which at that time 

 formed a large portion of the growth of our forests, but which has long 

 since become practically extinct. A very large quantity of this pine timber 

 was shipped annually, and our parents have told us of the large number of 

 English vessels, of about three to four hundred tons burthen, princi- 

 pally brig-rigged, which yearly came to the Miramichi River in search of 

 cargoes of this timber. Quite a large business was also done in sparts and 

 lathwood split trom hemlock. 



The following extracts from Cooney's History of New Brunswick, with 

 reference to the lumber trade at this early period in history of this part of 



whit ^r 6 ' a !I m A ereSti . ng J -" In <7 86 > Mr. Davidson, the earliest 

 pettier on the Miramichi, commenced working two saw mills he had 



Lova L!! TA '^ y^J. of th * North West Branch, and several 



Government A? rt" r T- 'S* 1 ? " knds th ^ obtained from thc 



rnment At this time, and, indeed, for several vears after lanre nines 



were so abundant that the very edges of the rivers w^ringed *h th em - 

 ' " the 



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