the pines of the Yonge street line, away north in the Gwyllimburies, farther yet to the 

 right and left of the Georgian Bay, in the woods where now stands Whitby town, and in 

 many another forest glade, now forest glade no more. I have seen vast districts around 

 me, where from elevated points we could once overlook many thousand square miles of 

 forest and of lake, changpd in a few years from leafy shades to sunny fields. In all n)y 

 experience, though I have known many farmers who, believing that " ther'll alius be 

 wood," cleared off every stick, and have now for many years bought wood, and in some 

 cases coal ; and though I knew some (myself included) who made spasmodic and ignorant 

 attempts to preserve some forest, yet I never knew one who seemed at all likaly to secure 

 to his successors enough timber on their own land. No doubt there are such ; but I have 

 not been aware of them. 



This arose from many causes. Some cared little so their turn was served, and I have 

 seen a farmer point to his ten or twenty acres of wood yet uncleared, with the remark, 

 " Well, I gaess that'll last my time. I didn't own no bush to begin with, nor no land 

 neither, and my sons'll be better off than I was, for they'll have the land anyhow. Be- 

 sides, there'll always be lots of wood in this here wooden country.'' Then, the pressure 

 ,of poverty was sometimes severe, and men sometimes driven almost to starvation point, 

 had little scruple in destroying a hundred dollars' worth of timber to procure five dollars' 

 worth of wheat, when they knew they could get the five dollars, could not get the hun- 

 dred then, and were by no means sure that they ever would. Again, ignorance was 

 very general. Few of us knew that, in destroying the forests, we were, in effect, pledging 

 ourselves to pay a heavy rent for our farms. There is nothing now better known to the 

 world of science, than the fact that any deforested country will cost the cultivator at least 

 four or five dollars more per acre, to obtain the same crops which nature would have 

 assisted him to procure, had a proper interspersion of forest reserves remained to continue 

 the natural moisture and preserve the original fertility of the soil. And I may remark 

 that it was impossible that this should be then known, as it is known in the present day. 

 The knowledge, or rather the proof of the knowledge, had not been arrived at. It is only 

 of late years that even the older nations of Europe have attempted carefully to investigate 

 the matter. For instance, when, in 1870, I took occasion to write in the "Canada 

 Farmer," and other journalistic literature of the day pretty extensively concerning this 

 matter, I found no such stores of knowledge, or of reference, as at present exist. 



Even in that short interval of twelve years great progress has been made. 

 Fresh experiments have been carried out, and new and valuable information 

 obtained, in American, European and Asiatic countries. The American Government, 

 warned by the rapid decrease of their forests, and consequent and evident injury to the 

 productive power of their soil, have for some years past had in operation a Forestry 

 Bureau, which, under the eflS.cient management of Dr. Hough, is doing excellent service, 

 and has now issued its third volume of reports. France and Switzerland, convinced by 

 recent experience of the injurious results of deforesting their mountain districts, are 

 replanting at great expense the most elevated plateaux. In the case of the former country, 

 vast additional outlay has been incurred, and with the most gratifying success, in 

 establishing along the sea coast great plantations of valuable timber, a benefit to the 

 climate, a source of profit to the proprietors, and a complete remedy for, and prevention 



