3 04 Canadian Record of Science. 



it is gone forever, and cannot be reproduced in our or our 

 children's time, as unlike mineral or the other products of 

 the soil, the quantity produced from these are limited by 

 the amount of labor employed in producing them. Per- 

 haps, however, time will find a substitute in some artificial 

 wood, or employ metal to take its place. 



Hardwoods, to which I will briefly refer, that were once 

 almost discarded, except for burning, are coming largely 

 into use in consequence of the improved wood-working 

 machinery that has been devised of late years, making the 

 work of preparing and completing joiner work much more 

 simple and easy than it was to do the same thing in pine 

 when I served my time over 50 years ago, and when 

 flooring, mortising, tenoning, sticking mouldings out of 

 dry spruce with hard knots, was done by hand. The 

 facilities also for reaching hardwoods and getting them to 

 market will help to make up for the loss of this favorite 

 material, which, I hope, is yet a long way off. I might 

 say before closing this part of my subject that the magni- 

 ficent cedar of British Columbia will, no doubt, largely 

 take the place of white pine for joiner-work. The Douglas 

 fir will be a valuable substitute for our coarser woods, 

 when they become scarce and high in price. A lumber- 

 man's life is not passed on a bed of roses, yet there is a 

 charm about it to those who have the stamina to endure 

 its hardships, and enjoy its excitements, that is not easily 

 forgotten. Who, that has followed it. can forget the log 

 drive from early morn to sun-down, kedging across the 

 lake to the tune of the chanteur, or breaking the jam in 

 the roaring cascade, whose noise is drowned by the yells 

 and shouts of the crew on seeing the great mass move off, 

 each great log as it were, trying to get ahead of its 

 neighbor, until they reach still water. What excitement 

 after the risk run and efforts made ! Old lumbermen can 

 and do look back to such scenes with much pride. What 

 other business has so many contingencies connected with 



