TREE, TIMBER, WOOD, FOREST AND WOODS 15 



America the words forest, wood, woods, and also timber, 

 are all used to designate "a large and thick collection of 

 growing trees." l Such terms have been held to include 

 in meaning not only the trees but also the land upon which 

 the trees grow. 2 



The word "woods" as used in statutes prescribing penal- 

 ties for firing the woods has been held to mean forest lands 

 in their natural state as distinguished from lands cleared 

 and enclosed for cultivation, 3 but an abandoned field cov- 

 ered with bushes and trees may fall within the purview of 

 such a statute. 4 However, a North Carolina Court re- 

 fused to extend such a statute so as to cover a field which 

 was still surrounded by an old fence and used as pasture 

 land even though it had grown up to bushes and resembled 

 a wood in its natural state. 5 



24. The Special Significance of the Word Timber 

 as used in England and America. The word "timber" 

 as denoting growing trees yielding wood suitable for con- 

 struction purposes requires further consideration. Black- 

 stone says "timber also is part of the inheritance. Such are 

 oa x k, ash, elm, in all places; and in some particular counties, 

 by local custom, where other trees are generally used for 

 building, they are for that reason considered as timber; 

 and to cut down such trees, or top them, or do any other 

 act whereby the timber may decay, is waste." 6 The de- 

 termination of what trees were "timber" became so im- 

 portant a matter in England as to claim the attention of 

 the legislature. A parliamentary act of 1766 7 named oak, 

 beech, chestnut, walnut, ash, elm, cedar, fir, asp (aspen), 

 lime (basswood), sycamore and birch as timber trees. A 

 supplementary act of 1773 8 declared poplar, alder, larch, 



1. See Century Dictionary, Godden v. Coonan, 107 Iowa 209, 77 N. W. 852; State 



v. Howard, 72 Me. 459, 464; Donworth v. Sawyer, 94 Me. 243, 253, 47 Atl. 521. 



2. People v. Long Island R. Co., 126 N. Y. App. Div. 477, 110 N. Y. Suppl. 512; 



Boults v. Mitchell, 15 Pa. St. 371, 380; Whistler v. Paslow, Cro. Jac. 487, 



79 Eng. Reprint 416. 



But see Fletcher v. Alcona Tp., 72 Mich. 23, 40 N. W. 36. 



3. Brunell v. Hopkins, 42 Iowa 429; Averitt v. Murrell, 49 N. C. 322. 323. 



4. Hall v. Cranford, 50 N. C. 3, 5. 



5. Achenbach v. Johnston. 84 N. C. 264. 



6. Black. Com., Vol. 2, p. 281. 



' 7. 6 Geo. 3, Chap, 48, Stat. at Large, Ruffhead Series, London, 1771. Vol. 10, pp. 



260, 261. 



8. 13 Geo. 3, Chap. 33, Stat. at Large, Ruffhead Series. London, 1774, Vol. 11, p. 701. 

 Cf. 35 Henry 8 (1543-4) ch. 17 repealed as to England in 7th and 8th Geo. 4 ch. 27. 



