one of the most important side effects of the timber trade was immigration to british north america. timber is a very bulky and not a particularly valuable cargo. for every ship full of british manufactured goods, dozens would be needed to carry the same value of timber. there was no cargo coming from the british isles to canada that could take up as much room on the return voyage. exporting salt filled a few ships, and some vessels were even filled with bricks, but many timber ships made the westward voyage filled with ballast. the population of canada was small and the lack of wealth in the area made it an unattractive market.