Forestry for Canada. 365 
Reboisement de |’Algerie” to repair the harm done in 
Algeria, by the burning of the forests on the slopes of the 
Atlas, deserve the warm sympathy of all those who can 
appreciate perseverance and devotion to the public good. 
But the subject before us to-day, is “Forestry for Canada.” 
It is difficult to awaken any interest in the question among 
us. We are apt to consider Forestry as a superfluity, here, 
as if our forests were inexhaustible. They would be so 
(saving accidents by fire) with judicious management and 
sufficient protection. The aim of Forestry is not, as many 
believe, to preserve trees for ever, or until they decay and 
fall. Quite the reverse; it is to select and cut down every 
tree ripe for the axe, making room for the young growth, 
and thereby insuring a continued reproduction and a steady 
revenue. As it is, we are not only spending our revenue, 
we are drawing largely every year, upon our capital. 
‘ The pride of the Canadian forest, the white pine, is getting 
very scarce; the proportion of first.class wood is decreasing 
year by year, while the distance from which it is brought is 
increasing. How many mill owners, who would have 
scorned sawing spruce logs a few years ago, are only too 
glad to get them now, and though spruce reproduces itself 
much more readily than pine, we can foresee the time when 
it will get very scarce, at the present rate of cutting. 
The late James Little, of Montreal, who was the first to 
sound the alarm, deserves to be gratefully remembered by 
Canada. When every one treated our pine as if the supply 
were inexhaustible, he was the first to call attention to its 
rapid disappearance. His warnings were met, not only with 
indifference, but with ridicule. Now, the eyes of the most 
sceptical are opened, and they must admit that he was right; 
but it is sad to see them turn round now and affirm that it 
is no use devising means for the protection of our forests, 
because there is nothing left in them worth protecting. 
There is still a great deal left worth caring for and improv- 
ing. It is late, but not too late. 
The great American forester, F. B. Hough, in his Report 
to Congress, draws attention to the fact that: “although 
