Lumber Trade. 357 
in the development of the lumber industry and export 
trade, without the need of railroads. Yet although, 
as a consequence this trade was early developed to a 
relatively large figure, it has not grown at as rapid a 
rate as might have been expected, and to-day with an 
export of less than 40 million dollars is considerably 
below that of the United States. 
The small export trade of earlier times, having been 
stimulated by exempting Canadian timber from paying 
duties in the home country, or at least allowing it a 
preferential tariff, had by 1820 grown to 15 million 
cubic feet, all squared timber, and sent to England. 
In 1830 it had érept up only to 20 million cubic feet, but 
by 1850 it amounted to over 50 million cubic feet, two- 
fifths of which was sawed material, the 2632 mills being 
reported by the Census (1851) as having cut 776 million 
feet B. M. By 1868, when the Dominion was formed, 
the total export of forest products had advanced in 
value to $18 million; the next decade, with a climax 
year in 1873 of $26 million, saw an increase to $20 
million, the proportion of sawn material being nearly 
three times that of hewn wood, and the entire cut of 
Ontario going to the United States. At that time it 
was computed that the waste of value in shipping 
square timber amounted for the province of Ontario 
alone still to over $350,000 annually. At present 
sawed lumber, deals, boards, planks, etc., forms 70 
percent of the total export. 
In the last 20 years a steady increase in exports at an 
average rate of about 3 percent per annum is noted, 
the total in 1903 culminating at $40 million, and in the 
following year sinking to 37.6 million. But, while 
