690 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 228. 



THE SOCIETY FOE THE PKOMOTION OF AGEICUL- 

 TUEAL SCIENCE. 



Neaely twenty years ago (September, 1S79) 

 half a dozen men conceived the idea of organ- 

 izing a society of scientific men, the object of 

 which should be to promote agriculture by fos- 

 tering investigation in science applied to agri- 

 culture. As a result the Society for the Promo- 

 tion of Agricultural Science came into exist- 

 ence, and its members have met once a year in 

 <;ounection with the American Association for 

 Advancement of Science. Last August the 

 Society held its nineteenth meeting, at which 

 the President, Dr. B. D. Halsted, presented a 

 historical summary of the work accomplished 

 since its organization. In this time (not includ- 

 ing the Boston meeting last year) the members 

 presented and the Society published 278 papers. 

 It is gratifying to the botanists to know that of 

 this number 102 dealt with botanical problems. 

 These were grouped as follows : Structure and 

 physiology, 26 ; agrostology, 16 ; pathology, 43 ; 

 weeds, 7 ; seeds, 10. The following titles taken 

 almost at random from the list of botanical 

 papers will show that the botanist who wishes 

 to have copies of all important botanical publi- 

 cations must include those which have appeared 

 in the Proceedings of this Society : ' Variations 

 in Cultivated Plants,' ' Notes upon the Flower- 

 ing Plants of Ohio,' ' Notes upon Bean and Pea 

 Tubercles,' 'The Agricultural Grasses of Ari- 

 zona,' ' Grasses and other Forage Plants best 

 adapted to endure Drouth,' 'A Tomato Disease,' 

 ' The Scab of Wheat Heads,' ' New Experiments 

 with Fungicides for Smut of "Wheat and Oats,' 

 ' The Weedy Plants of Ohio,' ' The Vitality of 

 Seeds Buried in the Soil,' 'Delayed Germina- 

 tion of Cocklebur.' 



Chaeles E. Bessey. 



The University of Nebeaska. 



THE FORESTS OF CANADA. 



The United States Consul at Montreal, Mr. 

 Bittinger, has sent to the Department of State a 

 report showing the distiibution of forests in 

 Canada and throughout the world. The fol- 

 lowing table shows the area of the forests in 

 the different Provinces : 



The quantity of pine is estimated, in Ontario, 

 as 19,404,000,000 board feet ; in Quebec, at 

 15,734,000,000 feet; in the other Provinces, at 

 2,200,000,000 feet ; total, 37,338,000,000 feet. 

 A low calculation of the annual cut is 1,000,- 

 000,000 feet, in which case Canada has not 

 more than forty years' supply, and the growth 

 of new wood, in spite of all regulations, is not 

 nearly equal to the cut. It is impossible to 

 give anything like a just return of the spruce 

 limits, estimates being so diverse as to be use- 

 less. 



The great tree of Ontario is the white,- or 

 Weymouth pine. There are also the red pine, 

 spruce, hemlock, etc. The valuable black 

 walnut, tulip, plane and coffee trees are almost 

 extinct. The quantity or value of timber can 

 not be given, as many millions of acres are 

 utterly unexplored. In the known woods a 

 return to the Ontario government states that 

 there are 60,410,000,000 feet. 



Quebec, with its newly added territory, is 

 now an even larger Province than Ontario. 

 Vast regions to the north are unknown. The 

 white pine is the most important tree, as in 

 Ontario ; it is, however, rapidly disappearing. 

 Rich spruce is noted in Bonaventure River au 

 Bouleau, Chicoutimi county. River French and 

 Bay Lake. There is great waste of hemlock, 

 on account of its bark. 



Some of the best cedar areas of the country 

 are on the north shoi-e of New Brunswick. An 

 unsurveyed area of some 2,000,000 acres on the 

 Upper Restigouche is reported to be full of good 

 spruce and cedar. The pine forests, at one time 

 rich, have been greatly impoverished. The 

 same is true of Novia Scotia. A quantity of 

 good spruce is left in the last-named Province, 

 but it is being used in a similar way. 



