860 ItEiOKT — 1884. 



of spruce and larch, which may even now he regarded as the principal timber 

 available for this purpose in the future. But our stock of these woods is to he 

 found mostly in the great country which drains into James' Bay, whose numerous 

 large rivers afford facilities for floating timher to the sea, and in the country 

 thence westward to Lake Winnipeg. Fine white spruce is likewise found in some 

 localities in the North-west Territories between the prairie regions and the country 

 of small timber to the north-east. The Banksian pine, which ranges all the way 

 from New Brunswick to the Mackenzie River, is often large enough for sawing 

 into deals, and will afford large quantities of good railway ties. 



If the vast northern forests can he preserved from fire in the future our supply 

 of small timber is practicably inexhaustible. When larger trees elsewhere shall 

 have become scarce, much of it may some day be sawn into boards, scantling, 

 joists, rafters, flooring, &c. Supplies of timber for railway-ties, telegraph-poles, 

 mines, fencing, piling, small spars, cordwood, charcoal, paper-making, &c, may be 

 drawn from these immense districts for all time, since the greater part of the 

 regions referred to are not likely to be required for agricultural purposes, and by a 

 proper system of cutting a new growth will spring up to replace the timber 

 removed, and in its turn become available to keep up the supply. The practically 

 interminable extent of these forests will allow ample time for the smaller trees 

 which may be left on any ground cut over to come to maturity before it is again 

 called upon to furnish its quota. Some of the woods of the more southern districts 

 of Canada, which have had hut little value hitherto, except for fuel, only require t> 

 be better known to be utilised for many purposes. 



The people of Canada have heretofore been accustomed to such an abundance 

 of wood, and to the idea that trees stood in the way of the progress of the country,, 

 that tree-planting has as yet made but little progress among us. A beginning has, 

 however, been made in the last two years in the provinces of New Brunswick and 

 Quebec, where ' Arbor Days ' have been proclaimed. In Ontario an Act was passed 

 in 1883, and a fund set apart, for the encouragement of tree-planting along high- 

 ways. The time has arrived for more vigorous action by the general Government 

 and the local Legislatures looking to the improvement and preservation of the 

 forests which still remain in Canada, and for the partial restoration of those which 

 have been destroyed. 



10. Forests — their Value Meteorologically and as National Reserves. 



By G. P. Hughes. 



The author taking a retrospect of the Primeval Forest, and regarding it geo- 

 logically, pointed out that civilisation and the arts must ever remain indebted to 

 the vast embedded forests of pre-glacial times. He referred to some of the instances 

 we have in Great Britain and America of forests perpendicularly fossilised by sub- 

 sidence into tranquil waters, thereby furnishing a means by which the age of the 

 formation may be calculated, and the structure of the trees be observed. lie referred 

 to the dependence of man in all ages of his history upon the forest for material for 

 houses, ships, implements, and the production of heat, calling attention to the de- 

 nudation of most eastern countries once famous for civilisation and the arts, and to 

 the wasteful destruction of valuable timber even in our day. The result has been 

 greater climatic changes, and in the tropics a barren wilderness, where once great 

 States held sway. He advocated planting the creek and reservoir margins in 

 Northern Australia and tropical India, and quoted authors to hack up his own 

 opinion, that among improvements to landed property, planting offers the most 

 certain returns in material, shelter, and ornament. 



He gave a sketch of a course of study for a school of forestry, and advocated 

 State aid or privileges to such institutions, in order that our national forests may be 

 supplied with scientific heads of departments. 



He made an appeal to British America to set aside forest reserves adequate for 

 all future requirements. 





