IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 17 



dom attempted in New England. The inhabitants of each town 

 have been content with the kinds of wood growing in their 

 neighborhood ; or, where particular kinds, not to be found there, 

 were necessary for the manufactures already established, they 

 have been satisfied to import them from a distance. In very 

 few instances, have systematic efforts been made to provide a 

 future supply of the best materials, in their own immediate 

 vicinity. This is to be done. The individuals interested in a 

 particular branch of manufacture in wood may say, that when 

 materials fail them in one place, they will go to another. The 

 owners of the land ought not to rest satisfied with this view of 

 the case. True patriotism and enlightened views of economy, 

 ought to prevent any one from consenting to it. 



Massachusetts must necessarily continue to be a manufactur- 

 ing State ; and the manufactures in wood are among the most 

 important branches of industry, and must be not only continued 

 but enlarged. They cannot even continue, unless pains are 

 taken to plant forests which shall furnish the necessary mate- 

 rials. A manufacturer of wooden bowls and trays in Boston, 

 who had procured his materials from Maine, found that it would 

 be better economy to live near the woods which produced them, 

 and send the finished articles thence to market. When the large 

 ashes and beeches of Becket are cut down, the maker of wood- 

 en-ware must remove to an older forest. What takes place in 

 individual cases, indicates the necessary but silent movement 

 of great masses. One by one, the workers in wood will have 

 left the State, when the old forests shall have been all cut down. 

 A prudent foresight may prevent this, by planting, in season, 

 the kinds of trees necessary for these various demands, — for fuel 

 and for all the branches of manufacture. For this end, we have 

 extraordinary resources. Among the native trees, we have great 

 choice, from the number, variety, and excellence of the species. 

 In the narrow breadth of Massachusetts, the species of native 

 timber trees are more numerous than are found in any kingdom 

 of Europe. We have nine large oak trees, four hickories, five 

 birches, three large maples, three ashes, three pines, two wal- 

 nuts, two elms, two spruces, two cedars, besides the beech, the 

 chestnut, the hornbeam, the lever wood, the tupelo, the hoop 

 3 



