THE CENSUS AND THE FORESTS. 777 



quickest way possible to clear a space in which to cultivate his wheat 

 and corn, and pasture his herds, or from the fire lighted recklessly or 

 by accident by some passing huntsman or traveler. 



In showing the relative position of our forests in respect to land 

 elevation and the vicinity of streams, the census report will show the 

 relation of the forests to the water-supply, and consequently their in- 

 fluence upon agriculture and manufactures. It will indicate their in- 

 fluence upon rain-fall and climate, as well as upon the course and effect 

 of winds, whether considered in their mechanical or their meteorologi- 

 cal relations. It will have an important use also as indicating the 

 relative healthfulness of different portions of our wide and diversified 

 domain. 



In prosecuting his study of our forests, Professor Sargent has gath- 

 ered a large collection of specimens of the different woods. These 

 will show the natural appearance of the trees, and the variation of ap- 

 pearance and texture caused by growth under differing circumstances 

 of soil and climate. From these specimens portions have also been 

 taken and carefully worked down so as to show the grain and the sus- 

 ceptibility to polish, and their consequent value for mechanical and 

 artistic purposes. The beauty of our native woods, and their adapta- 

 tion on this account to the manufacture of cabinet-work, and to the 

 interior finish of dwellings, will be made to appear as never before, 

 and will be a surprise to many. It will be seen that we have gone 

 abroad and procured materials for cabinet and carpentry uses at great 

 expense when our own forests stood ready to supply all that the most 

 fastidious taste could require. Professor Brewer, of Yale College, 

 reports that there are probably 800 species of woody plants indigenous 

 to the United States, of which 250 attain a height of thirty feet, and 

 are abundant in some portion of the country. 



Careful experiments have also been made in order to determine 

 the relative value of our woods for the purposes of construction and 

 for use as fuel. Blocks and sections of a great variety of trees have 

 been selected, reduced to the same dimensions, freed to an equal ex- 

 tent from moisture in other words, brought, so far as possible, to the 

 same conditions and then subjected to treatment at the United States 

 Arsenal at Watertown, by means of nice and powerful machinery, in 

 the hands of careful manipulators, for the purpose of determining the 

 respective amounts of resistance to a crushing and a fracturing strain. 

 Similar pieces have also been burned, under like circumstances, as 

 nearly as possible, and the amount of heat developed by their combus- 

 tion accurately determined. The relative value as fuel of the different 

 kinds of wood with which our country abounds has thus been ascer- 

 tained. Probably no more trustworthy and decisive experiments have 

 ever been made for the purpose of showing the value of different 

 woods for the uses of construction or as sources of heat. 



One of the peculiar and, practically, most valuable features of the 



