It has been said that in 1800 a squirrel could run and jump from tree to tree from Cornwall to Windsor. Although there were some small prairie areas, thick stands of deciduous and coniferous trees covered the landscape. Prior to the arrival of the first European settlers, the Georgian Bay countryside was a land covered in forest. In the upland areas, that forest was continuous with thick stands of maple and beech. Elm and cedar grew profusely in wetter lowland areas. There was walnut, butternut and hickory, hemlock and spruce.
For early Georgian Bay settlers, the forest was an enemy. It is estimated that in 1851, 96% of the countryside was covered in forest. A century later, that figure had dropped to 16%. Forests stood in the way of settlement and progress. Forests had to give way to cleared ground. Cut down and cut up, they supplied farmers with material with which to build barns, fences, homes and outbuildings and offered a limitless supply of fuel for winter heat.
The removal of Georgian Bay forests was reinforced by regulations on settlement. The rules were clear. “Settlers,” they read, “will be required to clear, and place under crop, one-third of the land located, and to reside on the land until this settlement duty is performed.” The first trees to fall were those along the fronts of farms. The last were either those farthest from concession lines or in swamp and rock outcrops.
Georgian Bay’s forests were more than useful. Soap, fertilizer, and lye could be made from ashes, farm buildings from both hard and soft wood, and fences from trees removed for cultivation. Eventually, these plentiful forests lent themselves to the manufacture of furniture, barrels, wagons, sleighs and vessels, and wooden ware which even included toothpicks. Tanneries depended upon the forest while telephone poles and railroad ties could be made from Georgian Bay trees.
Originally aired March 21st 2016
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