198 Proceedings oe the 



want." Timber owners should know the value of their 

 holdings, and in the event that they do not want to 

 make use of them themselves, and do not want them to 

 come into the hands of their neighbors, then the obliga- 

 tion which rests on every good citizen should not be 

 overlooked, and that is, the sacred duty of caring for 

 material things which are to pass on down to posterity. 



Taking the physical view of the matter with refer- 

 ence to the cooperage business, it has come under my 

 observation, says my correspondent, that each year 

 white oak for cooperage stock is becoming scarcer, and 

 the quality of the oak is deteriorating. Worms in the 

 timber are becoming more destructive and working in 

 new localities, and in this connection I would add that 

 worms do more serious damage to white oak, so far 

 as cooperage is concerned, than they do to any other 

 kind of timber. 



It seems that the great quantity of waste timber 

 allowed to lie in the woods and decay accounts, to a 

 great extent, for the increase of worms in recent years, 

 as this decaying timber not only feeds the worms, but 

 breeds them as well. 



Another destructive force that I want to speak of, 

 which has destroyed many million feet of fine forest, 

 is the annual fires that we have in the different timber 

 belts. These fires not only kill the small timber out- 

 right, but the larger trees are blasted, and as soon as 

 they begin to decay the worms entirely destroy the 

 tree. The need of protection against both of these 

 destructive forces can easily be seen; indeed, the way 

 was well pointed out yesterday by an Ontario delegate ; 

 and this brings us to the third subject: "How to 

 Accomplish These Ends." 



In this connection I am greatly interested in the 

 matter of forest reservations to be purchased , and 



