4 Tlie Forests of Canada. 



erty of their soil, will never be cultivated to any great 

 extent. This great coniferous belt has a crescentic form, 

 curving southward from Labrador to the far Northwest, 

 keeping Hudson Bay on its northern side. The distribution 

 of our forests ajipears to be governed almost entirely by 

 existing climatic conditions, although it may be modified to 

 some extent by the geological character of different districts; 

 and some of the peculiarities of their present distribution 

 may be due to former conditions affecting their dispersion. 



Beyond the northern limit of the forests on themainland- 

 of the continent there is a large triangular area to the north- 

 west and another to the north-east of Hudson Bay. called 

 the Barren Grounds, which are destitute of trees solely on 

 account of the severity of the climate, as the other condi- 

 tions do not appear to differ from those of the adjacent 

 wooded regions to the south. The treeless region of the 

 Western States and the south-western part of the Xortli- 

 west Territories of Canada are called plains as distinguished 

 from the prairies, which often are partially wooded. The 

 latter occupy an immense space between the plains and the 

 forest regions to the east and north-east. The plain and 

 prairie conditions are also due to climate, and not, as some 

 have supposed, to fires having swept away formerly existing 

 forests. This is shown by the contoursof the lines marking 

 the western limits of the various kinds of trees which pre- 

 vail in the east, as well as from the absence of water-courses, 

 which would exist if sufficient rain had fallen in compara- 

 tively recent times to have maintained forest growth. 



Although the Dominion embraces about half of the con- 

 tinent, only some ninety out of the 340 species of the forest 

 trees of North America are found within her borders, 

 including the Pacific slope. Yet the area under timber in 

 Canada is perhaps as great as that in the United States. 

 It is, therefore, evident that the forests are less diversified 

 in the north than in the south. This is in accordance with 

 the general law of the greater richness of the flora of warm 

 countries ; but it may be due also in part to the fact that in 

 the north we have greater uniformity of physical and 

 climatic conditions over wide areas than in the south. For 



