32 THE CANADIAN FORESTER'S 



will produce, if not wood of the first class, at least such 

 as will serve for fuel. 



Eeally sterile lands may, with a little care, be con- 

 verted into shrubberies (bocages). Where stone prevails 

 so much as to make ordinary farming impossible, trees 

 can always be planted, except where the bare rock 

 crops out. Lastly, savannahs, bogs, where no possibility 

 of drainage exists, may be planted": the methods to be 

 followed in these places I will describe farther on. 



In the fourth category I place that part of each farm 

 which forms the reserve of wood for the proprietor's 

 use. Wherever wood has disappeared, each farmer 

 should plant a few acres of trees. For the site of this 

 plantation, he should choose that part of his farm which 

 is least susceptible of cultivation. It is seldom that 

 some inferior spot cannot be found on a farm. But even_ 

 where the land is all of first rate quality, it is still ad7 

 visable to plant a piece of it, to put an end to the scarcity 

 of wood. Do not say that this is impracticable ; the 

 thing is done both on a large and. on a small scale by 

 our neighbours in the United States, and the results are 

 most satisfactory. 



Under the 'fifth head, come the lands which are in- 

 tended to furnish the railroad timber — telegraph-posts, 

 fences, ties, &c. Do not be surprised that I make a 

 special class of lands to be planted for the use of rail- 

 road companies, for they are, without doubt, the main 

 cause of the ruin of our forests. It is by the million of 

 feet that we must reckon the quantity of wood felled 

 each year to supply only the ties and sleepers that sup- 

 port the rails. The sleepers last but a short time, and 

 need, therefore, frequent renewals. 



The marvellous development of our network of rail- 

 ways, forewarns us of a time not distant, when we shull 



