The Forests of Canada 



107 



include, however, the forests of the 

 maritime provinces, which are exten- 

 sive and valuable, covering about one- 

 tenth of the area of Ontario and Quebec, 

 or the forests of New Brunswick and 

 Nova Scotia, which may be compared 

 in a general way to those of Maine. 



FORESTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 



The western or British Columbia belt 

 is far superior to either of the eastern 

 areas, for the reason that the climate, 

 tempered as it is by the warm waters 

 of the Pacific Ocean, promotes a more 

 perfect growth and development of the 

 different species. Here is found not 

 only the valuable red fir or Oregon 

 pine, generally distributed through- 

 out the entire province along the coast 

 and on the mountains, but also the 

 red cedar, the western spruce, the 

 yellow cedar, the hemlock, the bal- 

 sam fir, the western white pine, the 

 western yellow pine, the maple, and the 

 western oak in such quantities as to 

 make this the most valuable timber belt 

 on the North American continent . This 

 belt extends from the forty-ninth par- 

 allel north to the sixtieth parallel, a 

 distance of some 770 miles, and is from 

 200 to 300 miles wide. The best tim- 

 ber does not extend to the extreme 

 north. That portion is covered with 

 black and white spruce, and constitutes 

 a very extensive pulp-wood range. 



But this region, because of its great 

 distance from the markets in the East 

 and the lack of cheap transportation, 

 will remain comparatively in its prime- 

 val state until the eastern forests are 

 nearly exhausted or until better trans- 

 port facilities are afforded. 



THE NORTHERN FORESTS 



The northern belt is perhaps greater 

 in extent than all the other timber belts 

 and reserves of Canada combined. Ac- 

 cording to the best authority, it extends 

 from the eastern coast of Labrador north 



of the fiftieth parallel in a northwest- 

 erly direction to Alaska, a distance of 

 some 3,000 miles, with an average width 

 of perhaps 500 miles. This vast strip 

 of timber land, if placed upon the terri- 

 tory of the United States, would extend 

 from Maine to California and from the 

 southern shore of L,ake Erie to the 

 northern boundary line of Georgia. It 

 is known as the spruce forest of the 

 Dominion, the great bulk of the timber 

 being of that species, black and white, 

 the other important trees being larch 

 and poplar. 



Although this belt has been but par- 

 tially explored, it is claimed that many 

 of the trees in the southern portion are 

 of a lumber-producing size, but the 

 greater portion is fit only for pulp. 



When it is considered that spruce is 

 distributed in vast quantities through 

 all the forests of Canada, and that an 

 almost incalculable amount will be pro- 

 duced in this great northern belt, it is 

 hardly exaggeration to say that the Do- 

 minion possesses an inexhaustible sup- 

 ply of pulp wood. 



Dr Robert Bell, Director of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of Canada, says of the 

 area of the forests : 



' ' The area of our northern forests 

 may be reckoned as forty-four times as 

 great as that of England. Any one of 

 these forty-four parts will produce wood 

 enough to supply the ordinary demands 

 of the present population of Canada — 

 that is, 5,000,000 people could get what 

 is required for mining, fuel, etc., by 

 taking the timber from a space the size 

 of England — and would be able to al- 

 low the other forty-three equal parts to 

 be in reserve or used for export." 



The railway being built from Sault 

 Ste. Marie to Hudson Bay will make 

 available the timber growing around the 

 bay and along the line of the road, and 

 may possibly provide a more accessible 

 field of pulp wood than can be obtained 

 in any other way for the rapidly grow- 

 ing industries of the Soo. 



