The most important and extensive timber territories of Canada are subjoined: 1st. The country drained by the Ottawa, containing an area of 75,000 square miles. The white pine, red pine, and ash are chiefly obtained from this region. 2nd. The St. Maurice and its tributaries, draining an area of 22,000 square miles. Contains large quantities of white, yellow and red pine, spruce, birch, maple, and elm. 3rd. The Saugenay country, area 21,000 square miles. Rich in white and red pine, spruce, birch, and tamarac. 4th. The north shore of Lake Huron. White and red pine, spruce, cedar, birch, and maple. 5th. The extensive Gaspé Peninsula. White and red pine, spruce, tamarac, and birch. 6th. The Peninsula of Canada West contains oak, elm, and walnut. 7th. The Ontario territory, north of Lake Ontario, still contains a large amount of white pine, elm, maple, &c. 4 THE LUMBER TRADE. Not less than twenty-five thousand persons are directly engaged in lumbering operations. Government works, technically called slides, have been constructed on the sides of the falls on the great rivers down which the lumber is floated from the interior. Farmers have followed the lumberers far beyond the frontiers of the settlements, in order to supply them with oats, potatoes, peas and hay; the lumberers are essentially the pioneers of civilization, and although they leave the marks of desolation behind them in their progress through the wilderness, these soon become obliterated, and the snug farm-house in the course of a few years occupies the site of the lumberer's rude log shanty, being the second stage of the transformation of the forest wilds into fruitful farms. The amount of revenue accruing from timber dues and ground rent in 1861 was $327,503, and from slide dues $55,546, or a total of $383,050. British American lumber is chiefly exported to the United Kingdom, but there can be no doubt that the trade is diminishing, while there is every prospect of an increased trade taking place between continental European ports and British America. Thirty years ago, one-third of all the British tonnage trading beyond the seas, or about 300,000 tons, navigated by 16,000 seamen, was engaged in the colonial timber trade. During the year 1830 out of 40,000 emigrants which arrived from Europe, more than 30,000 were carried out by the timber ships. During the four years between 1857 and 1860, both inclusive, the proportion of British North American lumber imported into the United Kingdom was in Hence it appears that the average decrease in the imports of lumber from British North America to the United Kingdom, during the above period, is about 11 per cent., while the increase on the imports of foreign lumber is nearly 10 per cent. During 1861 about twenty cargoes of Canadian lumber were exported to the continent of Europe, and numerous inquiries continue to be made respecting the timber resources of the country. So rapidly is the price of timber increasing in France that standing timber worth 50 francs per 35 cubic feet in 1852 was worth 100 francs five years later. The industry to which the manufacture of the different products of the forest gives rise is very extensive. In 1851 there were 1,567 saw-mills in Upper Canada, and 1,065 in Lower Canada. The number of feet manufactured during the year amounted to 391,051,820 and 381,560,950 respect ively. Since 1851 the quantity manufactured has no doubt increased enormously, but no data are at present published from which satisfactory conclusions can be drawn, although some conception of the magnitude of the trade may be formed from the fact that planks and boards to the value of $1,507,546 were exported to the United States in 1861, being not far from half the total production of Upper Canada ten years previously, although the trade had suffered to a remarkable extent in consequence of the calamitous civil war which is now wasting the energies of our brethren across the international boundary. The exportation of planks and boards to the United States is one of the most important Canadian sources of prosperity as may be inferred from the following table. Value of Exports of Planks and Boards to the United States from 1857 to 1861 inclusive. 1859. 1860. 1857. The sudden diminution from more than 3,000,000 in 1860 to 1,500,000 in 1861 results from a temporary depression occasioned by the civil war in which the United States are unhappily engaged. The year 1845 was a most prosperous one for the lumber trade. The quantity of square timber brought to market that season amounted to 27,704,344 feet, and the quantity exported was 24,223,000 feet. In 1846 the quantity brought to the Quebec market rose to 37,300,643 feet, but only 24,242,689 feet were exposed. Hence prices fell to a ruinous degree and a great blow was given to the trade during that year. In 1847 there was a stock supply of more than 44,000,000 feet to meet a demand for 19,000,000 and in 1848 a total supply of 39,000,000 to meet a demand for 17,000,000. Under such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that the timber trade became exceedingly depressed. The excitement of high prices has fostered over-production, |
