98 C A A/ ADI AN FOSESTEY ASSOCIATION. 



cial use at the present time, as well as to consider the different conditions of 

 growth. For instance, we have two distinct kinds of spruce timber in our 

 forests, namely the black spruce, which is found in the southwestern part 

 of this Province, and the white spruce, which you will find is the principal 

 tree on the Restigouche River and the Upsalquitch and their tributaries. 

 The black spruce, which is found on the Miramichi and St. John Rivers and 

 branches, is a tree of fairly rapid growth, and on confining ourselves to a 

 reasonable size log, the majority of the territory covered by the black 

 spruce can be cut over about every fifteen years. This, of course, is regu- 

 lated entirely by the size which this lumber is cut. Originally nearly all the 

 timber cut in the Province of New Brunswick was shipped to European 

 ports, and principally to the British Isles, and owing to the quantity of 

 large size deals that was required in the specifications sold fifteen years ago, 

 no tree that would not make a log 18 feet long and n inches in diameter 

 at the top was considered a merchantable one. These trees, in a great 

 many cases, were not run up into the tops, and it is only in recent years that 

 the tops of our larger trees have been taken out. This left a very large per- 

 centage of timber in the woods, which the saw mill men had no market for. 

 They made all the laths that they could find sale for out of the slabs. A 

 tree of this size, had it been run up into the top, say even to 8 inches, 

 would have given a log at least 36 feet long, 8 inches at the top end. Where 

 cuttings of this nature formerly took place men have been known to go 

 over the same ground in eight or ten years and get nearly the same quantity 

 of timber and of about the same size as originally. At that time the 

 "specifications," which were sold in the British market did not include more 

 than thirty per cent, of 7 inch deals, the remaining seventy per cent, had to 

 be nines, elevens and upwards. You can readily see by this that the markets 

 controlled the size of timber that was formerly cut in our woods, and to a 

 very large extent conserved our forests for the present time. 



Another point we might mention is the fact that the pine on all the 

 rivers empting into the Bay of Chaleur at that time was not considered 

 very valuable, except for lumber, and for that reason very little of it has 

 been cut heretofore. This you will see has preserved our pine on the 

 Hacquet, Louison and other rivers. The American market has bee^ a 

 very large factor in the exportation of manufactured lumber from the 

 Province of New Brunswick, and mills have been set up in our Province in a 

 great many places, but, as a general thing, these mills have operated prin- 

 cipally on granted or soil right lands. At the same time it has made a 

 market for our large mills and the operator has been able to get sale for a 

 larger output of laths which would work up small tops of trees and give 

 him an opening for scantling. 



Again, of recent years, the English markets have reduced their deal 

 *specifications from 70 per cent, to 50 per cent of 3-in. x 9-in., 3-in. x I i-in., 

 and up, allowing 50 per cent, of 3-in. x 7-in., instead of 30 per cent., as for- 

 merly. This is outside of battens which they are taking 2^-in. x 7-in., and 

 our operators are now shipping a large percentage to the English market in 



*Note See Paragraph on "Miramichi Specification." in paper of Hon. J. P. Bur- 

 chill. 



