511 



his knowledge has been more beautiful. The roots oi' ^rees have been 

 generally neglected even for ship-building, where they might often be 

 employed to advantage. A great deal of very elegant furniture is now 

 made from our own trees ; from the rock maple, which displays its rich 

 curled knots and eyes and cloudings, and from the soft maples, whose 

 wavings are so beautiful ; and these woods of super-eminent beauty are 

 much cheaper than mahogany. 



We require in the next place much wood and timber for implements 

 of husbandry, for carriages, and for a variety of other indispensable 

 uses. Ash, oak, and hickory are and always will be in constant de- 

 mand. 



The lofty ash of England is valued for its toughness. The ash of 

 New England is tougher still, and makes better oars and materials for 

 carriages. Our carriage-builders are now obliged to go to Maine or 

 to the South or West for their timber. We require such timber for 

 fencing, and for this purpose the chestnut tree and the white cedar 

 furnish the best materials. In the growth of cedar two thirds, often 

 nine tenths, should bo thinned out ; and with these thinnings a fence 

 may oftentimes be made by driving the pieces into the ground, inclin- 

 / ed at a considerable angle to the ground, and in two rows, touching 

 each other, and leaning in opposite directions, the pieces to be wattled 

 together where they cross. He has seen a very cheap and durable 

 fence made in this way. Larch may be used in the place of cedar. 



Our forests furnish many materials for tanning. Our shrub white 

 and our shrub red oak, which correspond with the trees which are used 

 abroad as producing the greatest amount of tanning, are here burnt. 

 We are wasteful of these materials. We require likewise materials 

 for dyeing. The alders are much used in the North of Europe for 

 dyeing. A strong dye is to be found in the birches ; and birches are 

 likewise used in foreign countries for tanning. But of these uses we 

 know little ; and while no attention is paid among us to the cultivation 

 of trees, the preservation of those which exist among us is treated with 

 indifference. One advantage which comes from the study of forests is 

 the discovery that plants of the same families have the same proper- 

 ^ties. 



The manufacture of chairs, which is a large and productive business 

 in Massachusetts, requires a great amount of materials, and those, 

 which are at present of necessity employed, are in general much infe- 

 rior to those formerly obtained. Basket-making is a considerable busi- 



