84 Our Field and Forest Trees 



supplies. And settlers are making towns and 

 farms in the great plains where wood is scarce. 



So the need of setting aside lands, to be used 

 as Forest Reserves, is now fully realized by the 

 Canadian Government. " The Dominion Forest 

 Reserves," says their Inspector, " are intended to 

 preserve and produce a perpetual supply of timber 

 for the people of the prairie. They are not 

 intended to furnish wood for the lumber trade. 

 The purpose of the Parliament in the creation of 

 the reserves is chiefly to meet the homesteader's 

 needs." 



Canadian law-makers are not unmindful of 

 other blessings of the forest: "They are well 

 aware that forests feed springs, prevent floods, 

 keep earth from being v/ashed down the hillsides, 

 shelter from storms, give health and delight, pro- 

 tect game and fish, and beautify the land." 



But the Dominion forest laws seem devised 

 chiefly and especially to make sure that In years 

 to come the country shall be well supplied with 

 lumber and timber. 



The Dominion foresters, trying to insure the 

 nation's supply of wood, have no easy problem 

 and no light task. Dr. Fernow, Dean of the 

 Faculty of Forestry in the University of Toronto, 

 warns Canada that her timber supply, far from 

 being Inexhaustible, is very limited. Great areas 

 of the country can never grow large trees. Growth 

 in Canada's northern climate and thin soils, with 



