18 TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



ash or nettle tree, the tulip tree, the plane, the bass, the locust, 

 the hemlock, the fir, the hacmatack, the cherry, the holly, several 

 • poplars, many willows, and a large number of smaller trees. 

 Besides these, it is found that all the valuable trees of middle 

 and northern Europe flourish here as if they were native. It 

 thus appears that our soil and climate are perfectly well adapted 

 to all kinds of wood which are found in temperate countries. 

 It is only necessary to understand the character and habits of 

 each, and to choose suitable soil and situation. 



Of many of our trees the properties are but partially known. 

 Some of them grow only in particular districts. Others are so 

 unlike those found in the mother country, that they hardly have 

 a name.* Of many, the habits and rate of increase, and the 

 soil, exposure, and situation most favorable to their growth, 

 have not yet been studied. Of the nine large oaks found grow- 

 ing in Massachusetts, not more than five are often found in the 

 same forest, and of these, two, and often three, are not well dis- 

 tinguished by the land owner, though their value for different 

 purposes is very different. The black oak and the scarlet are 

 commonly confounded, from their close resemblance, although, 

 to the ship-builder or the wagon-maker, the former is far the 

 more valuable ; and both these trees are often confounded with 

 the red oak, which, for timber or fuel, is comparatively worth- 

 less. The rock chestnut oak, of great value for fuel and for 

 timber, and better adapted, than any other oak, for growth on 

 rocky hills, is well known in only a few towns in the State. 

 The mossy cup oak, so valuable for trenails and small frame 

 work, is found only in a small part of Berkshire. It would 

 grow readily in any section. The rough oak, or post oak, is 

 now known only on Martha's Vineyard. Similar observations 

 might be made on half the trees in the State. Those most in- 

 terested in the subject, the owners of the land which should be 

 devoted to trees, and the mechanics who work on the wood, are 

 seldom acquainted with the qualities of any except the trees of 

 their own immediate vicinity. 



* There is no one uniform name for the Celtis, the Carpinus, the Ostrya, or 

 the Nyssa. 



