[ 178 ] 



«« prefcnt ftatc of oak plantations in general, and how 

 " far you think the Uirch^ or any other tree capable 

 " of being fubftituteJ for oak in any branch of (hip 

 *' buildihg, has been attentively cultivated." 



^be following vhfervations rejultingfrom an experience 

 of near 29 y^^r^y ^«^ ^^^' ^ '^^O' ^^^^'^<? otiey not 

 vnly in plantings but in cutting down and converting 

 every kind of timber ^ as well for the navy as for home 

 iifeSy are refpe5ffully offered to the Society, 



Observations. 



T^IMBER is an article of commerce. The fcar- 

 •*" city of any article of commerce is ufually 

 owing to the increafed demand, or the lefTened pro- 

 dudion of that article. The increafed demand is 

 ufually followed by an increafed attention to the 

 produdion. The fcarcity of any article, in itfelf in- 

 difpenfible, and the negle^l in the produdlion of that 

 article, is therefore a paradox in commerce. To 

 prove that the fcarcity of oak timber is a chimaera, 

 and to convince every Briton that the navy, the pride 

 and bulwark of his ifky will never want Englifh oak to 

 enable it to keep up that fuperiority it has always 

 held among maritime powers, wiU not be I truft a 

 difficult tafl<. I am fure it will not be unacceptable 

 to the fociety, the great objefl of whofe inftitution 

 is, *f that this generation fball not ^cave the zvorld 

 worfe than they found it,'' 



To 



