FORESTRY BUREAU. 



177 



British paper-makers were ultimately driven to its use. The display of wood-pulps 

 "being new to a large portion of the public, formed a very interesting feature in the 

 exhibition. 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 



The only Canadian province represented at the exhibition was New Brnnswick. 

 Of the indigenous woods of the colony there were 40 different specimens shown. They 

 were mostly of a light color, the samples of ash, bird's-eye maple, and birch being 

 particularly fine both as to color and texture. The hemlock tree (Abies Canadensis), 

 the bark of which is largely used in the United States as a substitute for oak bark iu 

 tanning, was also shown. The exhibit was the joint property of the government and 

 the New Brunswick Land and Timber Company, who seek for settlers on about one 

 million of acres on the St. John and its tributaries, where the land, resting on the 

 Upper Silurian formation, is said to be exceedingly fertile. This land is at present 

 covered with hard-wood trees, and on these forests little impression has yet been 

 made by the lumberers' axes. There is as yet no supervision of the forests worthy of 

 the name, and no instruction in forestry is given in any Government institution. 



MANITOBA. 



The Canadian Pacific Railway Company had an exhibit on the open ground, which 

 attracted a great deal of notice. This was a model Manitoba farm, consisting of a 

 two-roomed house, log stable, and the implements and wagons used by the settlers. 

 Different articles of useful furniture, suitable for such a dwelling, were also shown. 



THE REDWOOD TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 



Of the redwood trees of California and the uses to which they may be put there 

 was an excellent illustration. A section of a giant Sequoia 13 feet in diameter was 

 shown, and there were also some splendid slabs of wood of great size and beautiful 

 quality. By a local firm of cabinet-makers there was exhibited an ornamental trophy 

 showing the adaptability of the wood for furniture purposes and interior decoration, 

 For both purposes the wood appears exceedingly suitable. 



LARCH DISEASE. 



(Larix Enropea. ) 



The larch, which was first introduced into Scotland about 150 years ago by the 

 Duke of Athole of that day — the "planting Duke," as he was called — and was found 

 a most profitable, fast-growing tree, has for a considerable number of years shown 

 signs of deterioration. Larch plantations have been ravaged by disease in every 

 part of the country, and in accounting for it practical foresters are by no means 

 agreed. The tree seems to be more or less infested with insects and ulcerated wounds , 

 through which the sap bleeds, to the serious injury, if not destruction, of the tree. 

 Bad seed, undue forcing in the nursery, deterioration of the climate, exhaustion of 

 the soil, spring frosts, and careless management have all been blamed, for the disease. 

 Many specimens of larch wood, both in a sound and unsound state, were exhibited. 

 One young tree in a tub, sent from the Athole plantations, was covered with a pest of the 

 larch plantations — a minute aphis apparently closely allied to the cochineal insect. 

 The tree looked as if it had been dusted over with white flour, which conceals in- 

 numerable microscopical insects, under whose attack the young larches receive a se- 

 vere check or succumb altogether. Plenty of air and room for the tree to grow in are 

 the best means of routing this enemy — close,, unthinned, and badly tended planta- 

 tions being more liable to be attacked with it than others kept more open. Dry-rot 

 also attacks the larch. What is known as " blister" in the larch is the most common 

 form the disease takes* the ulceration being the means as already hinted of bleeding 

 the tree by degrees to death. The disease is a cause of great anxiety to planters, 

 many of whom have immense tracts of mountain land, in the Highlands, under larch. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



There were not a great many exhibits of a practical nature worthy of detailed no- 

 tice. 



Practical foresters have had their attention directed to a system of pruning exhib- 

 ited by the Count dea Cars, Paris, whose idea is to keep the tree, by pruning, in "per- 

 fect equilibrium," which, it is averred, helps the enlargement of the trunk. There 

 were many exhibits of foresters' tools, and an opportunity has been afforded of com- 

 paring those in use in different countries. Several tree-transplanters were shown. 



12 A — *84 



