112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



more tBan a moral question, it was an object whidi should be im- 

 pressed upon us by the highest feelings of our religion. We found 

 hei-e the wood, the water, the fei-tile soil. We know that the 

 deforesting of a country dOes more than remove the one, it greatly 

 impairs the others, so that the land may not be able to supi^ort more 

 than the tenth part it now maintains. We sliould remember that 

 no proprietor can have a title to destroy the fertility of the soil, lest 

 " the field cry out against him, and the furrows thereof likewise com- 

 plain." The vast concourse of humanity continually emerges from 

 the unknown past, it travels toilsomely by, it is lost in the clouds of 

 the future. Be sure that there we shall meet with strict questioners ; 

 nor wiir those pass unchallenged who have, to serve their own pur- 

 poses, rendered painful, sterile, and"' barren, the path of generations 

 yet to follow. 



Mr. Browning asked if the Government was taking any 

 action in the direction suggested. 



Mrc Phipps repliedUhst seyeral reports on the subject were 

 madfe^at thff-instantML^of the Government 



Mr. MacdougaU spoke of Forestry Associations in the 

 North-west, in Australia, and in India, whose work had pro- 

 duced beneficial results. 



Mki Murray considered the subject as one of great impor- 

 tance: to this country, and suggested that cattle should not be 

 allowed to pasture on forest land, as when they do so pasture 

 they prevent second growth. 



Mr. Bain and Mr. Livingstone made some remarks, and the 

 President illustrated on the blackboard the difference between 

 trees grown, in the forest and in the open field 



THIRTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 



The Thirteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Session i88-4-'85, 

 was held on Saturday, February 7th, 1885, the President in 

 the Chair. 



The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. 



