66 Canadian Record of Science. 



a wide border of coniferous trees, which become smaller and 

 more limited in number of 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 pov-, 

 erty 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 Northwest, 

 keeping Hudson 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 themainland- 

 of the continent there is a large triangular area to the north- 

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

 the Barren Grounds, which are destitute of trees solely on 

 account of the severity of the climate, as' the other condi- 

 tions do not appear to differ from those of the adjacent 

 wooded regions to the south. The treeless region of the 

 Western States and the south-western part of the North- 

 west Territories of Canada are called plains as distinguished 

 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 pre- 

 vail in the east, as well as from the absence of water-courses, 

 which would exist if sufficient rain had fallen in compara- 

 tively recent times to have maintained forest growth. 



Although the Dominion embraces about half of the con- 

 tinent, only some ninety out of the 340 species of the forest 

 trees of North America are found within her borders, 

 including the Pacific slope. Yet the area under timber in 



