THE LABRADOR BOUNDARY
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In a recent issue of the Spectator you congratulated the Dominion of Newfoundland on the acquisition of a greater portion of the land that God gave Cain." Will you permit one who has some knowledge of Newfoundland to make a few remarks on the subject of the resources of its new territory ?
That the Dominion has largely increased its pulp-wood resources is, of course, indubitable, but, froM a careful study of the subject, I feel that the pulp trade is not an unmixed blessing, resulting as it probably will, in such countries as Newfoundland and Labrador, in deforestation permanently. I consider also that the public should be wary as to investment in a trade so liable to risks in those lands. In the more im- portant books and reports on Newfoundland and its industries will be found the drawbacks of Labrador clearly and authori- tatively stated. .
For instance, no one could fail to be struck by the repeated mention of the devastation caused by forest fires, the effect of which is absolute denudation of. vegetation and soil to the bare rock. The great cause of forest fires in Labrador is the inflammability of the moss ; Mr. Kindle states that when the Indians wish to inform their friends of their presence they do so by setting fire. to the moss. As to the timber limits, Mr. Low (see Report of Canadian Biological Survey, Vol. VIII, 1895) states that north of latitude 53° the higher hills are treeless, and the size and number of barren areas rapidly increase, and Mr. Gathorne Hardy states that in the latitude of Nain the country away from the river valleys is " almost incredibly
barren." • _ You allude to the mineral wealth of the country : as a fact, the only mineral ore the existence of which in quantity and of apparently good .quality seems undoubted is the iron ore, non-titaniferous, on the Hamilton River, as to which Low reported that it exists " in practically inexhaustible quantity " but can this be won on a remunerative basis when climatic and transport difficulties are considered ?
Mr. Hesketh Prichard, in his book, Through Trackless
Labrador (1911),- writes as follows :—" Lately a good deal or interest has been aroused in the timber possibilities of Labrador-. In the southern localities these may, no doubt, be great, for although the growth is slow, the spruce is peculiarly adapted for the manufacture of pulp. North of Hopedale, however, great care should be - exercised' by intending investors, as timber exists only in the river valleys and, though at one spot trees may be found in abundance, half a mile away there may be none at all. . . . Labrador may have wealth, but it needs careful handling, and the failure of a,few companies to
realize expectations would arrest her development for perhaps a Century." As to agriculture, Low states that it is doubtful whether it would ever be possible north of latitude 51°, while Sir William MacGregor recounts the extreme care necessary to grow a few vegetables. He and others refer to the vast swarms of black-fly and mosquitoes in the country ; Sir William indeed states that in his large tropical experience he never suffered more from the latter.-1 am, Sir, &e., G. D. McGainoil.
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