258 



The !Hh. and 10th of William III., Chap. 36, is an Act for the preservation 

 of won,! in the New Forest, in the county of Southampton. Two hundred acres, 

 purt of this forest, to be enclosed for the growth of timber, alter being set out 

 by commissioners ; two hundred acres more to be enclosed yearly for twenty 

 years : and to remain in possession of the Crown for ever. Wood is not to be 

 (.at without sufficient authority. No coppice wood to be cut. Enclosures not to 

 In- ploughed or sown. The foresters to be fined, if they browse or lop any oak 

 or beech tree in the forest. Charcoal not to be made within one thousand paces 

 of the enclosure. Persons breaking down fences may be committed as rogues 

 and vagabonds. 



Ninth of Anne, Chap. 17, is for the preservation of white and other pine 

 trees growing in Her Majesty's colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 

 and Province of Maine, Rhode Island, Providence plantation, and the new 

 Narragansett country or king's province, and Connecticut in New England, New 

 York, and New Jersey. No person within the said colonies shall presume to 

 cut, sell or destroy, white or any other sort of pine tree fit for masts, not being 

 the property of any private person, such trees being the growth of twenty-four 

 inches and upwards at twelve inches from the ground, without the royal license 

 for so doing, under the pain of forfeiting 100 for every such offence one moiety 

 to the Crown and the other to the informer, who may recover the same in any 

 court of record. The surveyor-general to mark the trees to be cut with the 

 broad arrow; but no other person than he or his deputy to make any mark 

 under the penalty of 5. 



In the 12th of Anne, we find, an Act Chap. 9, for encouraging the importa- 

 tion of naval stores from America and Scotland for eleven years, and thence to 

 the end of the next session. 



Sec. 26 observes, " Whereas there are in several parts of North Britain, 

 called Scotland, pine and fir trees fit for masts, and for making pitch, tar, resin, 

 and other naval stores, but the land and wood which may yield such naval stores 

 are mostly in parts mountainous and remote from navigable rivers, therefore for 

 the encouragement of the proprietor of such lands and woods in making roads 

 and passages in rivers in those northern parts useful and commodious to the 

 public, as well as for conveying such naval stores to the sea'ports in North 

 Britain, to be brought by sea to England ; be it enacted, that there be given a 

 premium for every ton of hemp, 6, of tar 4, of pitch 4, of resin 3, of masts 

 20s., to be paid by the officers of the navy on a certificate from the custom house 

 officer where the stores are landed." 



The first year of George I. presents us with an Act, Chap. 48, for the 

 encouragement of planting and preserving woods. By it, maliciously setting fire 

 to wood is made felony. 



Sec. 17 of Chap. 2, 5th of George I., directs particular examination into the 

 quality of Scotch tar. 



The 6th of George I., Chap. 16, is another Act for the encouragement of 

 planting and preserving wood. By it damage done to woods is made recoverable 

 from the parish unless within a certain time it discovers and convicts the 

 real offender. 



Sec. 3 of Chap. 12 of the 8th of the same king directs, that the inspecting 

 officer shall grant no certificate, unless the articles, of which tar is particularly 

 mentioned, are of good quality. In it, many sorts of timber are enumerated as 

 being imported from America ; among them oak, wainscot, pine, etc. ; and in 

 consequence of these being imported from foreign countries, at very advanced 

 prices, particularly in time of war, it is enacted that due encouragement be given 



