157 



In point of fact, we are following the United States very closely in our efforts to 

 get rid of our forests, and fully justify the remarks of a Glasgow journal that " Canada 

 and the States are busy sawing from under them the high-reaching fortune-making branch 

 on which, like conquerors, they are now sitting and overlooking the world." 



I hardly dare attempt to describe the consequences of a dearth of timber, and every 

 effort should be made not only to protect our existing forests, but to plant new ones, for 

 no civilized country can do without timber. Even Great Britain, that is supposed to 

 be finished up and requiring, as it were, only timber for repairs and that is enabled to 

 obtain supplies at the cheapest rate from the north of Europe for the bulk of her wants, 

 has to pay from $75,000,000 to $100,000,000 yearly for wood. What it would cost your 

 country, which is yet to be built up, and consumes probably five times as much, can 

 hardly be estimated, but this I am sure, that it would cost the United States more than 

 its whole exports of grain and cotton and require the combined sailing tonnage of the 

 world to procure it from any source known to me. In fact, dearth of timber reaching the 

 industries of the United States and Canada, which is sure to take place before many years 

 roll round, is one that can not be contemplated without the most painful apprehensions 

 for the future of both countries. 



In conclusion, I do not see that I can add any better advice than that of the Laird 

 of Dumbiedykes to his son and heir : " Jock, when ye hae naething else to do, ye may 

 be aye sticking in a tree ; it will be growing, Jock, while ye're sleeping." 



Mr. N". H. Egleston, of Williamstown, Mass., then addressed the meeting as folio ws : 



I find myself here in a double capacity. As a delegate, invited by you as such, I 

 have to thank you for your courtesy in inviting me, so far away from your place of meet- 

 ing, and a stranger, to be with you and to take part in your important deliberations. 



But I am here also in another capacity. I come with this commission from His 

 Excellency, Governor Long, issued in conformity with the vote of the Legislature now in 

 session at Boston, to bring to this Convention- the salutation of the State of Massachusetts, 

 and, so far as my poor abilities will allow, to represent the ancient Commonwealth on 

 this occasion, i am here because Massachusetts is, and always has been, interested in 

 whatever is of importance to the country at large. She counts herself a member of the 

 living body politic of this great nation, and recognizes the truth that whenever any member 

 of the living body suffers all the members suffer with it, and whenever any member rejoices, 

 all the members rejoice with it. 



But Massachusetts has not merely this general interest in the subject which has 

 called this Convention together. She knows by practical experience the importance of 

 preserving our forests. When the Pilgrims sighted Provincetown, and coasted along 

 Cape Cod to lay the foundations of an empire, that great arm of land, as well as Nan- 

 tucket and other islands on the south, was covered with a stately forest growth. But 

 with the progress of settlement on those coasts, what has been done by man almost uni- 

 formly as he has migrated from the original cradle of the race in Asia Minor, was repeated. 

 The forests were recklessly cut off, and the land became a desert waste of sand. So 

 barren was much of the region made that the dwellers there have, in many cases, carried 

 soil from the main land over leagues of intervening water in order to secure a proper 

 return of crops from their seed-sowing. But now, in these later years, these barren 

 stretches of sand are being reclaimed. All along that exposed coast, from the point of 

 the Cape to Martha's Vineyard, may be seen plantations of forest trees, many of which 

 have attained a growth sufficient to furnish marketable timber, while many others, more 

 recently planted, are making effective wind breaks for the ordinary crops of the farm, 

 thereby increasing the value of the land for tillage purposes. 



But ^Massachusetts has other portions of her soil besides her sea coast, which makes 

 the subject of forestry one of direct interest to her. From her eastern to her western 

 limit she has tracts of rocky and mountainous character, or low and swampy districts, 

 which are unfit for ordinary cultivation, and, in an agricultural point of view, almost 

 valueless. But, planted and protected as woodland, these tracts may become of very 

 great importance as a source of direct pecuniary retui'n, as well as on account of their 

 bearing upon the climate, health and the various economic industries of the people. The 



