and other valuable Timber Trees. 301 



their different possessions, by the growth of those sylvan 

 giants that have been the pride of nations for centuries. 



Augustus Mitchell, M. D. 

 Portland, June 24, 1847. 



Hon. H. a. S. Dearborn. 



No subject is of more importance, in a national point of view, 

 than the preservation of our Forests, and the formation of 

 new plantations for the supply of timber for maritime pur- 

 poses. The subject has been, from time to time, agitated, 

 and Congress has been memorialized in reference to it, (Doc. 

 241, 25th Congress.) But amid the party strife v/hich at 

 that time occupied public attention, the matter ended with a 

 reference to the Committee on Naval Affairs. 



We hope, now, that the efforts of Dr. Mitchell may be in- 

 strumental in again drawing attention to this important ques- 

 tion, and should the establishment of an Experimental Gar- 

 den in Florida for the cultivation and acclimation of tropical 

 plants be successful, that not only will the attempt be made 

 to acclimate the useful trees of other climes, but that the whole 

 subject of Arboriculture will be its leading feature, — that a 

 series of experiments may be carried out to ascertain the 

 best period of felling trees, and the best plan of seasoning 

 timber, — the prevention of dry rot, — and all other questions 

 pertaining to the preparation of timber for naval purposes. 



Should Congress not move in the matter, we trust the in- 

 terests of each and every State maybe appealed to in the way 

 Dr. Mitchell proposes ; our own State has just concluded her 

 Report upon the trees indigenous to her soil, and we doubt not 

 that the interests of the Commonwealth will induce her to 

 take some steps to accomplish this. Mr. Emerson lias set 

 forth, in just terms, the importance of the preservation of our 

 forests, and urged the formation of new plantations of trees 

 on the thousands of acres which now lay waste and barren. 

 A tract of land set apart for the growth of our native trees, 

 as well as all those of other parts of the country, and of 

 foreign growth, which will flourish in this latitude, and en- 

 trusted to the care of some competent individual, would be 

 an object, as Dr. Mitchell remarks, " more commemorative of 

 the genius of a nation, than all the marble monuments and 



