I 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE INSPECTION AND MEASUREMENT OF TIM- 

 BER PRODUCTS 



139. Development of Legislative Regulation of In- 

 spection and Measurement. As early as March 29, 

 1626, the shipment of timber from the Plymouth Colony 

 without the approval of the governor and council was for- 

 bidden. J This order, as well as several of similar character 

 in other New England colonies, was evidently aimed pri- 

 marily at a conservation of the timber supply. The neces- 

 sity of an official inspection of timber products to insure a 

 satisfactory quality in exportations was first experienced 

 in connection with the shipment of staves to the West Indies 

 and the Madeira Islands. A Connecticut order of Septem- 

 ber 10, 1640, required an official inspection of all staves in- 

 tended for shipment to a foreign market. 2 As an export 

 trade developed, various provisions as to inspection were 

 enacted in different colonies. The inspection of staves was 

 provided for in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hamp- 

 shire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, 

 and New York, in the order named. 3 The standard cord 

 of wood was established by legal enactment in nearly, if not 

 all, American colonies previous to the adoption of the Fed- 

 eral constitution, 4 and subsequent to the institution of the 

 National government numerous acts regarding the measure- 

 ment of firewood and the selection of official wood corders 

 were passed both in the original states and in those later 



1. Compact, Charter & Laws, Colony of Plymouth, Boston, 1836, p. 28. 



2. Colonial Records of Connecticut, Hartford, 1850, Vol. 1, p. 60. 



3. Conn., 1640; Mass., 1641; N. H., 1687; N. J., 1694; Pa., 1700; Va., 1752; N. C. 



1770; N. Y., 1788. 



4. Mass., 1647; N. Y., 1684; K. I.. 1698; N. H., 1714 (earlier as a part of Mass.); 



S. C., 1738; Del.. 1741; Ga., 1766; N. C., 1784. 



196 



