Tli e Timber of Canada. .*'>r>7 



once the greatest timber and ship building port in the 



world. Forty years agp as many as forty Co fifty ship- 

 were built in a single year. NoYf t licit- is qoI one. In 

 years gone by as many as GOO sailing ships visited the 

 port in the spring and fall, taking away 300,000,000 feet 

 h. in. of timber and lumber: as much as 18,000,000 cubic 

 feet of square timber were shipped in a season ; lasl 

 season about 3,000,000. Its once famous coves and 

 wharves are deserted and falling to pieces, most of the 

 pine deal business being done at Montreal that was 

 formerly transacted at Quebec. 



Mr. Ward emphasized the necessity of preserving the 

 forests from fire, quoting at length from Hon. Peter 

 White on the question. Continuing he said : " In selling 

 lands to settlers, I would make it a condition of sale that 

 20 acres in every 100 should be given free and that it 

 should be forever kept as woodland. The uninitiated, 

 travelling through the woods after the shantymen have 

 taken all they think worth taking, would hardly notice 

 that the chopper had been there, except for seeing an 

 occasional stump, a few chips, or a top of a tree, the great 

 bulk of the timber remaining to hold back the water in 

 its natural beds, and to prevent sudden rises and falls in 

 the rivers, which oftentimes cause serious damage by 

 overflowing the banks or becoming so low that they refuse 

 to do the work they once performed with ease. To avoid 

 these troubles and have our country remain well wooded 

 for many years, it is but necessary to give the trees 

 indigenous to it, leave to grow, and there will be no 

 necessity to plant. I have no doubt but that much of the 

 land that has been denuded of its timber would in a very 

 few years be covered with a spontaneous growth of wood. 

 and so prevent our country from becoming an arid waste. 

 by utilizing only that portion of it which can be profitably 

 worked. 



To an inexperienced eye there may be hardly an cvi- 



