ILLUSTnATED GUIDE. 21 



almost entirely disappeared nearly 25 years preyionsly. 

 Well, I want to see the provincial governments do what 

 has been done by a simple horticultural society with 

 very few funds at its disposal. 



In the province of Quebec there are eighty agricultural 

 and five horticultural societies, aided by the govern- 

 ment. Besides these, there are thirty-nine agricultural 

 clubs organised, and in full operation, in the different 

 parishes in the country. Thus, we have one hundred 

 and twenty-four associations of husbandmen spread 

 over the whole extent of the province. Societies of the 

 same class, in greater or lesser numbers, exist in all 

 parts of the confederation. Let the governments of the 

 different provinces devote, every year, a certain sum to 

 be distributed among these associations, which sum 

 shall be given as prizes to encourage the restoration of 

 the woodlands, and the fruits of this timely liberality 

 will soon be apparent. 



For, if a purely local horticultural society has succeeded 

 in inducing farmers to compete for similar prizes in a 

 country where woodlands are still plentiful, how much 

 more likely should we be to succeed, acting, as we should 

 be doing, over the whole country, and with the govern- 

 ments taking the initiative, in those places where there 

 remain nothing but a few half-denuded spots, and 

 where firewood and lumber are both on the point of 

 absolutelv disappearing. 



This, if I do not deceive myself, is an excellent way 

 of inducing farmers to take precautions against a scarcity 

 of wood, and, in that belief, I submit it in full con- 

 f dence to the attention of our legislators. 



