ORIGINAL FORESTS AND THEIR EARLY DEVELOPMENT 1 89 



but the St. Croix and other rivers of Maine. Later the Penob- 

 scot became the most important lumber stream. 



The destruction of white pine early became a subject of solici- 

 tation on the part of the government. In King WilHam's reign 

 a surveyor of the woods was appointed by the crown and an order 

 was sent to the governor-general to cause an act to be passed 

 in the several governments for the preservation of the white 

 pines. In fact the crown claimed the pick of all the forest and 

 no one but officers were supposed to cut the pines. Many con- 

 flicts arose between the people and these officers. The woods- 

 men, asserting a "Swamp Law," cut their share. Forestry 

 regulations of this sort were imposed not only by the crown but 

 by the colonies. 



The lumber industry of the colonies steadily grew up to the 

 time of the Revolution, and, in fact, was not long interrupted by 

 the war. In 1770 the export of masts, boards, staves, etc., from 

 New England was valued at £45,000; ships, about 70 sail, at 

 £49,000; and potash to the amount of 8000 barrels, at £20,000. 

 The trade in lumber was largely with the West Indies, Madeira, 

 and the Canaries. 



The first use of the word "lumber" in its present sense ap- 

 parently dates back to the early colonial times when the wharves 

 of Boston were "lumbered" over with boards, logs, etc. 



Practically the last act looking toward the preservation of the 

 forest was an act passed by Massachusetts in 1784, providing a 

 fine of $100 for cutting a white pine tree on the public lands. 

 Two years later the Commonwealth abandoned this poHcy of 

 protection in favor of immediate realization of its resources. 

 Both by royal and local authority restrictions on the cutting of 

 timber had been severe, but now within twelve years after the 

 close of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts disposed of three 

 and one-half million acres, much of it through lottery, in the 

 region now Maine. Undoubtedly she was sadly in need of 

 revenue after the heavy drain of the war, but the disposal of 

 much of this public nonagricultural land in Massachusetts then 

 and later throughout the United States was one of the greatest 



