16 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



cost of nearly $4.50, making $18,000. The average annual 

 consumption on the Boston and Lowell road, is 4000 cords, 

 at an average first cost of about $3.50 per cord, — $14,000. 

 The average consumption on the Boston and Maine Rail-road, 

 is about 8000 cords, at an expense of about $17,000, about 

 $2.13 per cord. A considerable portion of this road lies in New 

 Hampshire and Maine, and the wood is procured almost entirely 

 from those States. On the Eastern Rail-road, as far as New- 

 buryport, there are used, besides coal, 2400 cords of wood, at 

 the rate of $4.50 per cord, an expense of $10,200. Now, tak- 

 ing one-half the Boston and Maine Rail-road to run in Mas- 

 sachusetts, we have, on the six most travelled roads, an an- 

 nual consumption of 40,400 cords of wood, at an expense of 

 $135,700 for 338 miles, or about 120 cords per mile. Of the 

 other rail-roads, the Taunton is 11 miles long, the New Bed- 

 ford 21, the Fall River 11, the Nashua 14, the Northampton 23, 

 the Berkshire 21, the Fitchburg 42, the Plymouth, soon to be 

 completed, 38. The Norwich runs, in this State, about 20 ; the 

 Hartford, in this State, about 8 ; the Hudson and Berkshire, in 

 this State, about 13; — in all, 222 miles. Suppose the average 

 consumption on these roads to be one-half what it is on the 

 others, or 60 cords a mile, and the price of wood $3.25, — 

 we have 13,320 cords of wood consumed, at an expense of 

 $43,290. These, added to the sums above, give an annual 

 consumption of 53,710 cords of wood, at an expense of $178,990 

 for 560 miles of rail-road, an estimate which those acquainted 

 with the subject will regard as within moderate bounds. The 

 wood consumed in locomotives is almost entirely pine of some 

 kind. Very little hard wood is used for the purpose. Now, 

 this consumption is not likely to diminish, and offers a perma- 

 nent market for all the pine wood which can be grown. 



CONTINUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 



From all these considerations, it is apparent how valuable 

 are the forests, and how important it is that efforts should be 

 made, by the land owners of this generation, to check the waste 

 which is going on, and to provide supplies for the wants of the 

 generations to come. Planting trees on a large scale has been sel- 



