CANADIAN SUPPLIES. 



138 



more than forty to fifty years of this most necessary part of our wood supply in sight if the same 

 lavishness in the use of it is continued. 



To be sure, there is some new growth and reproduction going on. The probability as to the 

 former is that decay and destruction by fire offset the accretion on the old timber of coniferous 

 growth, and no one familiar with our forest conditions and present methods will indulge in a hope 

 that the reproduction and young growth can materially change the results. Long before any new 

 reproduction can have attained log size we will have got rid of the virgin supplies. 



CANADIAN SUPPLIES. 



As to importations, there is practically only one country from which such timber can be 

 obtained — Canada. 



The statistician of the department of agriculture of the Dominion of Canada in 1895 estimated 

 the white pine standing at 37,300,000,000 feet, with an annual cut of nearly 2,000,000,000 feet, 

 including spars, masts, shingles, etc., which, as will readily be seen, can not materially change 

 the position stated before, namely, that the next decade may witness the practical exhaustion of 

 this greatest lumber staple. Even allowing 10,000,000,000 feet of merchantable spruce, which 

 may be found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, such allowance can not appreciably retard 

 this exhaustion, since the total annual cut of Canadian coniferous wood exceeds 5,000,000,000 feet. 

 Fifty per cent may be readily added to the estimates of standing timber in eastern Canada, thus 

 assuming 75,000,000,000 feet as on hand, and still Canada's cut alone will exhaust her resources in 

 fifteen years, and this country will assist her to get rid of it in less time. 



So far the importations from Canada, although rapidly increasing, have been insignificant 

 when compared with our home consumption. The importations of all kinds of forest products and 

 wood manufactures have been hardly over 1 per cent of our own production, and, if we confine the 

 inquiry to coniferous material only, the proportion of the importation of this class of materials 

 rises to hardly 5 per cent of our home production of the same kinds. 



To arrive at an idea of the extent to which we have so far drawn on our neighbors for conif- 

 erous supplies, an attempt has been made in the following table to segregate from the trade and 

 navigation reports of the Dominion of Canada those items which have reference to this discussion, 

 translating into board measure approximately the returns given in other measures. These figures 

 are probably somewhat below the truth, but are sufficiently accurate for the present purpose, and 

 are moreover the only ones available. 



Exports of coniferous products from Canada to United States. 

 Fin millions of teet, Si, M-, lounded oft.] 



Coniferous products. 



1877-1882. 



By ems 

 5.5 

 9.0 

 2.2 



1883-1888. 



G yean 

 9 5 

 26.6 

 4 6 



1889-1894. 



1892. 



1893. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



Logs 



i> years. 

 20 

 86 9 

 504.5 



5 

 23 

 74.0 



5 9 



21 

 127.0 



5.2 



17 9 



277.9 



2 2 



25 



212.2 



4.8 

 15.2 





157.7 







Total logs - - 



16.7 



40.7 



611 4 



102.0 



155 9 



301.0 



239.4 



177.7 







Lumber 



31.5 



43.5 



965 8 



1.4 



14.9 



3.9 



(a) 



108 7 



64.8 



1) 132. 9 



.8 



21.8 



1.6 



(a) 



204 5 



250 7 



3, 098 1 



.7 



132 2 



165 o 



(a) 



53.0 



38 7 



651 4 



.2 



33.4 



51 



89 4 



759.1 



42.5 



42 8 



1,018 3 



44.2 



44.0 



549.5 



48.8 

 52.3 





720.5 



TVIasts stairs and other . . . . . . ... ........ 





Timbers ... . . . . 



40.3 



36 5 



b5.8 



45.7 





30.0 



62.0 



61.5 



76.3 



100.0 









2,061.0 



1, 330. 6 



3, 851. 7 



806.7 



1 001 8 



1,201.6 



779.8 



967.3 









1, 077. 7 



1, 371. 3 



4,463 1 



908.7 



1, 155 7 



1,502.6 



1, 019. 2 



1, 145. 







a Too small to be stated in millions oi ieet, B. M. 



It will be seen that each six years 7 period shows an increase, and that the exports of the last 

 three years were only 25 per cent lower than those of the six preceding years. The largest imports 

 were recorded for 1894, when nearly 1,250,000,000 feet partly manufactured coniferous wood and 

 300,000,000 feet of logs of conifers were imported. This latter importation increased steadily up 



