History of the Canadian Timber Trade 



Lecture on This Interesting and Important Subject. 



' ' The Romantic History of the Canadian 

 Timber Trade" was the subject of the lec- 

 ture given on March 25 in the Carnegie 

 Library by Mr. James La\vler, honorary sec- 

 retary of the Canadian Forestry Association. 

 It was the last of the series given by the 

 library board, and was one of the most in- 

 teresting. Mr. Sykes, librarian, was in the 

 chair, and the lecture was illustrated by a 

 series of over 80 slides. 



Mr. Lawler pointed out that the suliject 

 was so large he would be able only to touch 

 ujion the most important phases. The tim- 

 ber trade, he said, was the second trade 

 entered upon after the discovery of the 

 country — the fur trade being first. It was 

 second only to agriculture in importance 

 now. Such a large proportion of the soil 

 of Canada was suitable only for trees that 

 the forest industry should remain the second 

 industry forever unless Canadians were crim- 

 inally neglectful of their forest heritage. In 

 this connection several diagrams were shown 

 indicating the growth of the timber trade, 

 particularly in exports since 1868. It was 

 shown that since Confederation the export 

 of forest products equalled 21 per cent of 

 the total exports. Taking up the historic 

 side of his subject, the lecturer began with 

 the old French governors, showing the old 

 c-astles and houses of Quebec, and jiointing 

 out that the first regulations in regard to 

 timber were made by both the English and 

 French govei'uors and were with the object 

 of reserving the oak for building the hulls 

 of the Royal Navy, and the pine for making 

 the masts. A review was given of the period 

 of the seigniors, in particular the Lot- 

 biniere seigniory about 40 miles above Que- 

 bec, which has been in possession of the 

 family since 1655, and upon which advanced 

 forestry methods have been practised for 50 

 years. lie noted that Sir Henri Joly de Lot- 

 In niere was the first president of the Cana- 

 dian Forestry Association, and one of the 

 fathers of scientific forestry in Canada. A 

 number of pictures showing the development 

 of the trade in the Ottawa valley were 

 shown, culminating with the famous exhibi- 

 tion of lumbering before King George V. 

 when he visited the Capital in 1901. Mr. 

 Lawler also touched upon the <lramatic in- 

 cidents in the trade, including the Mira- 

 niachi fire, and reviewed the timber and 

 shipbuilding industry in the Maritime Prov- 

 inces and the lumber industry of British 

 Columbia. 



A vote of thanks was moved by Dr. P. H. 

 Eryce, seconded by Mr. A. McConnell. — Ot- 

 taira Citizen. 



STOCK TAKING NEEDED. 



There is strong reason for the belief that 

 the forest resources of Canada have been 

 much over-estimated, and the necessity for 

 a general stock-taking is obvious, in order 

 to i^rovide the basis for a comprehensive 

 plan for intelligent conservation. — Sir Clif- 

 ford Siftoii. 



AS THE BURN WIMPLES. 



Wimplin' burnie, whither awa', 

 Through the wood, and down the fa', 

 Black wi ' shade, and white wi ' faem, 

 Whither awa' sae fast frae hame ? 



Woodbirds on thy sparklin ' brink 

 Bip their bills, and thankfu ' drink, 

 Mak ' the forest arches thrill. 

 With their warblin ' sang and trill. 



Where thy stanes are green wi ' moss, 

 Barefit bairnies wade across. . ; 

 Clover-breathin ' humane cows, 

 Stan' beneath the apple-boughs, 

 Lash their tails and chew their cud. 

 Knee-deep in thy coolin' flood. 



— Jeremiah Eankin. 



CHINA NEEDS TREE SEEDS. 



Prof. Josei>h Bailie of the Department of 

 Agriculture of the University of Nanking, 

 China, has written to Dr. C. C. James, 

 Commissioner for Agriculture, Canada, 

 asking for gifts of tree seeds in connec- 

 tion with his work of getting destitute 

 Chinese on vacant lands. Prof. Bailie 

 states that he has got over one hundred 

 families on the land and that now more 

 than half these are close to being inde- 

 pendent. Independence he says is a com- 

 parative term and what these poor people 

 reckon independence would not be thought 

 so in Canada, where the population wastes 

 every year what w^ould make double their 

 number in China independent. He appeals 

 for seeds of conifers and of such broad- 

 leaved trees as would grow in Nanking. 



The agricultural department in the Uni- 

 versity is very young and there are a dozen 

 students. They are short of everything 

 except land, of which a good deal has been 

 given by the government and it is on this 

 that the colonization experiment is being 

 tried. 



56 



