856 RETORT— 1884. 



moist climate has favoured this. The white pine, yellow pine, and Douglas spruce 

 are more or less known to commerce, but there are several other British Columbia 

 trees which are as yet comparatively untried. In the near future the lumber trade 

 there is likely to attain large proportions. Referring to the North-west prairies, the 

 future cities and towns could exist only where abundant water was present, and 

 thus the supply of water in the rivers was of vast importance. To preserve a 

 constant and uniform supply it was absolutely necessary to have the sources of each 

 important stream examined. If forests already exist there, then reserve a large 

 area of them from public sale ; if they do not, then the Government should at once 

 promote the planting of forests or institution of national parks at such points. 

 There are numerous rivers requiring such attention. 



The paper was illustrated by a large map showing the forest areas and northern, 

 range of leading trees. 



9. The Forests of Canada. By Robert Bell, M.D., LL.D. 



The writer, who has had extensive opportunities during the last thirty years of 

 becoming personally acquainted with the forests of the Dominion east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, endeavoured to give an account of their extent, general characters, 

 peculiarities, value, means of preservation, &c. Viewing the forests of the continent 

 as a whole, only the northern portions come within the Dominion, a large part of 

 which lies beyond the limit of trees of any kind. The central and eastern forest 

 region of Canada and the United States presents the greatest variety of species. 

 In the north a wide border of coniferous trees, which becomes constantly smaller 

 and more limited in species as we approach the verge of the forests, stretches across 

 the continent ; while toward the south deciduous forests prevail, but are inter- 

 spersed with large areas of pines of various kinds. The sombre coniferous forests 

 of the north are continuous over vast regions, which from their high latitudes and 

 the poverty 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 

 north-west, keeping Hudson's Bay on its northern side. The distribution of our 

 forests appears 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 the mainland of the continent there is a large triangular area to the 

 north-west and another to the north-east of Hudson's Bay, called the barren 

 grounds, which are destitute of trees solely on account of the severity of the chmate, 

 as the other conditions do not appear to differ from those of the adjacent wooded 

 regions to the southward. The treeless regions of the Western States and the 

 south-western part of the north-west territories of Canada are called plains as dis- 

 tinguished 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 contours of the lines marking the western limits of the various kinds of trees 

 which prevail in the east, as well as from the absence of water-courses, which would 

 exist if sufficient rain had fallen in comparatively recent times to have maintained 

 forest growth. 



Although the Dominion embraces about half of the continent, only some ninety 

 out of the 340 species of the forest trees of North America were found within her 

 borders, including the Pacific slope. Yet the area under timber in Canada was 

 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 example, 

 we have a similarity in these conditions from Newfoundland to Alaska, and henc& 



