[16] As an instance, one statistician by mere mathematical figuring, namely, deducting the known crop and pasture area from the total land area would make the forest area of Quebec alone over 209 million acres. This includes the country north of the Height of Land, of 163 million acres, which by another mathematical calculation is made to be able to furnish over 65 billion feet of lumber, besides over 600 million cords of pulpwood and 370 million railroad ties; but under present conditions, owing to topography and character of the timber it cannot be utilized and its commercial value is altogether problematic. This calculation would leave as really or potentially available forest land south of the Height of Land 46 million acres in addition to over 5 million on farms. It is claimed that this forest area may still produce some 110 billion feet of coniferous and 1.5 billion feet of hardwoods, or 2500 feet to the acre. The chief of the provincial Forest Service lately made the forest area of the province 131 million acres, including 2 million acres of waste land. While by the change of standards and by local needs, forest areas may become commercially valuable which were not so considered before, and thereby the above figures may be eventually increased, from the standpoint of valuable lumber supply for the world trade, the above named area may be assumed to set the limit for the present. A computation based on slender information has placed the country with open woodlands in the central region as exceeding 280,000 square miles. The Director of Forestry estimated that 150,000 square miles of this area might contain nearly 200 billion feet merchantable timber. The southeastern territory south of the Height of Land was originally all densely wooded. From it a farm area of round 25 million acres has been cut out, less than 7 per cent. of the land area included. Especially the south-western half of Ontario, between the Great Lakes, which contains the most fertile land, is densely settled, as also the shores of the St. Lawrence. A large part of the remaining forest area is cut over and culled, especially for pine; the amount of White Pine remaining according to estimates made in 1895 would now be less than 20 billion feet. Extensive areas have been turned into semi-barrens by repeated fires. The Statistician of the Dominion in his report made in that year comes to the conclusion that “the first quality pine has nearly disappeared” and that “we are within measurable distance of the time when, with the exception of spruce as to wood, and of British Columbia as to Provinces, Canada shall cease to be a wood exporting country.”