George Warburton - The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1

See Appendix, No. XXVII. (vol. II.)

The oak from the dense forests of Canada, into which the sun's rays never penetrate, is more porous, more abundant in sap, and more prone to the dry rot than the oak grown in any other country. Canadian timber has increased in value since the causes of its former rapid decay have been more fully understood. Mr. Nathaniel Gould asserts that the wane of the moon is now universally considered the best season for felling timber, both in the United States and in Canada. The Americans contract for their ship timber to be felled or girdled between the 20th of October and the 12th of February. Dry rot being probably caused by the natural moisture or sap being left in the wood, the less there is in the tree when cut, the longer it will keep sound. As regards the Canadian oak, it is stated by Mr. M'Taggart (the engineer, who so ably distinguished himself while in the colony), that it is not so durable as that of the British, the fiber not being so compact and strong; it grows in extensive groves near the banks of large lakes and rivers, sometimes found growing to 50 feet in length by 2 feet 6 inches; its specific gravity is greater than water, and therefore, when floated down in rafts, it is rendered buoyant with cross bars of pine. It is easily squared with the hatchet, and answers well for ship-building and heavy work; will endure the seasons for about fifteen years,[Kalm says, in 1748, "They were now building several ships below Quebec for the king's account. However, before my departure, an order arrived from France prohibiting the further building of ships of war, because they had found that the ships built of American oak do not last so long as those of European oak. Near Quebec is found very little oak, and what grows there is not fit for use, being very small; therefore they are obliged to fetch their oak timber from those parts of Canada which border upon New England. But all the North American oaks have the quality of lasting longer, and withstanding putrefaction better, the further north they grow."—Kalm, p. 663] and does not decay in England so soon as in Canada.—Montgomery Martin's Canada , p. 257; Gray's Canada , p. 207.

The most useful American plants in the small order Betulaceæ are the birches, of which Canada contains six species. The most celebrated is Betula Papyracea, the canoe birch, so called from the use made of the bark in the construction of the Indian boats. It extends from the shore of the Hudson in New York to a considerable range of country northward of Canada. The bark is obtained with facility in large pieces, and is sewed together with the tough and slender roots of the pine-tree. La Hontan relates a characteristic story respecting the birch bark: "I remember I have seen, in a certain library in France, a manuscript of the Gospel of St. Matthew, written in Greek upon this sort of bark; and which is yet more surprising, I was there told that it had been written above a thousand years; and, at the same time, I dare swear that it was the genuine birch bark of New France, which, in all appearance, was not then discovered."—La Hontan, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 361.

Mr. Weld says that "the bark resembles in some degree that of the cork-tree, but it is of a closer grain, and also much more pliable, for it admits of being rolled up the same as a piece of cloth. The Indians of this part of the country always carry large rolls of it in their canoes when they go on a hunting party, for the purpose of making temporary huts. The bark is spread on small poles over their heads, and fastened with strips of elm bark, which is remarkably tough, to stakes, so as to form walls on the sides."—Weld, p. 311.

See Appendix, No. XXVIII. (vol. II.)

See Appendix, No. XXIX. (vol. II.)

The ginseng belongs to the small order Araliaceæ. The botanical name is Panax quinquefolium: it was called Aureliana Canadensis by Lafitau, who was the first to bring it from Canada to France.—(Charlevoix, tom. iv., p. 309, fig. 13.) It was discovered in the forests of Canada in 1718. It is herbaceous, scarcely a foot and a half in height, and toward the upper part of the stem arise three quinate-digitate leaves, from the center of which springs the flower stalk. The root is fusiform and fleshy, and is the part most valued. We are informed that among the Chinese many volumes have been written upon its virtues; and that, besides the name already mentioned, it is known by several others, expressive of the high estimation in which it is universally held throughout the Celestial Empire: two of these appellations are, 'the pure spirit of the earth,' and 'the plant that gives immortality.' An ounce of ginseng bears the surprising price of seven or eight ounces of silver at Pekin. When the French botanists in Canada first saw a figure of it, they remembered to have seen a similar plant in this country. They were confirmed in their conjecture by considering that several settlements in Canada lie under the same latitude with those parts of Chinese Tartary and China where the true ginseng grows wild. They succeeded in their attempt, and found the same ginseng wild and abundant in several parts of North America, both in French and English plantations, in plain parts of the woods. It is fond of shade, and of a deep, rich mold, and of land which is neither wet nor high. It is not every where very common, for sometimes one may search the woods for the space of several miles without finding a single plant of it; but in those spots where it grows it is always found in great abundance. It flowers in May and June, and its berries are ripe at the end of August. The trade which is carried on with it here is very brisk, for they gather great quantities of it, and send them to France, from whence they are brought to China, and sold there to great advantage. The Indians in the neighborhood of Montreal were so taken up with the business of collecting ginseng, that the French farmers were not able during that time to hire a single Indian, as they commonly do, to help them in the harvest. The ginseng formerly grew in abundance round Montreal, but at present there is not a single plant of it to be found, so effectually have they been rooted out. This obliged the Indians this summer to go far within the English boundaries to collect these roots. After the Indians have sold the fresh roots to the merchants, the latter must take a great deal of pains with them. They are spread on the floor to dry, which commonly requires two months and upward, according as the season is wet or dry. During that time they must be turned once or twice every day, lest they should putrefy or molder. The roots prepared by the Chinese are almost transparent, and look like horn in the inside; and the roots which are fit for use are heavy and compact in the inside. No one has ever discovered the Chinese method of preparing it. It is thought, among other preparations, they dip the roots in a decoction of the leaves of ginseng. Kalm wrote thus of the ginseng in 1749 (Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 639). Mr. Heriot mentions that "one article of commerce the Canadians had, by their own imprudence, rendered altogether unprofitable. From the time that Canada ginseng had been imported to Canton, and its quality pronounced equal to that of Corea or Tartary, a pound of this plant, which before sold in Quebec for twenty pence, became, when its value was once ascertained, worth one pound and tenpence sterling. The export of this article amounted in 1752 to £20,000 sterling. But the Canadians, eager suddenly to enrich themselves, reaped this plant in May when it should not have been gathered until September, and dried it in ovens when its moisture should have been gradually evaporated in the shade. This fatal mistake, arising from cupidity, and in some measure from ignorance, ruined the sale of their ginseng among the only people on earth who are partial to its use, and at an early period cut off from the colony a new branch of trade, which, under proper regulations, might have been essentially productive."—Heriot's Travels through the Canadas , p. 99, 1807.