36 Mineral Resources of JVew York. [July, 



either a protoxide or a peroxide, it is the most economical of all 

 the processes which have been devised; yet, it is liable to objec- 

 tion, inasmuch as it may be very slovenly performed, and a great 

 amount of ore wasted. But it is the most direct, and where only 

 small loops are brought out, and the ore is well prepared and intro- 

 duced in proper quantities into the fire, very good iron may al- 

 ways be made, such as suitable for all ordinary purposes, and 

 even nail plate, horse shoes and wheel bands. 



The great drawback to the iron manufacture of the north will 

 be found in the principle which so often moves men of enterprise, 

 that of making the most of present advantages, by which suffi- 

 cient prudence and economy will be lost sight of in the use of fuel. 

 The common practice in this country of sweeping down an entire 

 forest or a large tract, in one season, and converting the most pro- 

 fitable parts of it to coal is one which would be highly injurious 

 if adopted in the northern sections of the state. By this course 

 nearly one-third of the younger growth of trees is destroyed by 

 being broken, or cut down and thrown into heaps to rot; the soil 

 consequently is left to be washed off when the surface is at all 

 steep, and the whole field is thereby reduced, or nearly reduced to 

 barrenness, or a condition of poverty from which it can scarcely 

 recover in an entire generation. It is true that in coal making, 

 the additional expense which attends the selection of the ripe and 

 full grown timber is an inducement to cut the whole and convert 

 it into coal upon the spot; still, in the long run, the former course, 

 that of cutting only that which has reached its full growth and is 

 upon the verge of decay, will be found by far the most profitable. 

 We regret, even now, that in any parts of New England and 

 New York the forests are prostrated even for a wheat field, and 

 we deem it a waste in all the older settlements to cut them down 

 for any purpose whatever. They should be merely thinned out; 

 the young and those of vigorous growth leTt to be matured. The 

 pasturage which might be secured would amount to more than 

 would be made, in many cases, by cutting the whole. The wheat 

 or rye crops which may be obtained for a few years will be of 

 less value than the wood which has been burnt in heaps upon the 



