MR. moseley's address. 15 



no expense, but a few hours of labour, and it would render their 

 habitations more pleasant and give to them a great additional 

 value, should they have occasion to sell, or should the estate de- 

 scend to their heirs. These trees would be a living monument 

 to their memories, while that raised by ihe hand ofafiection may 

 have crumbled to the dust. With what feelings of veneratioa 

 <]o we often see the majestic elm, spreading its mighty branches, 

 and throwing its cooling shade around the humble mansion of 

 some former personage. Such trees carry with them lessons of 

 instruction to generations which never heard the voice of him 

 who planted them. 



Perhaps no country in the world is so highly favored in the 

 beauty, variety, and utility of her forest trees as the United 

 States ; or perhaps I should say North America. Monsieur 

 Michaux a French gentleman, of much science and adistingush- 

 ed botanist, made a voyage to this country in 1802 for the pur- 

 pose of examining our forests, and in 1806 he was employed by 

 the French government to undertake another voyage under the 

 orders of the administration of French forests. He devoted sev- 

 eral years to obtain a knowledge of the properties, variety and 

 utility of various sorts, as applied to the arts. He states, that 

 the number of sorts of American forest trees, whose growth a- 

 mounts to thirty feet at least, and of which he has given a de- 

 scription, amounts to 137, of which ninety-two are employed in 

 the arts. In France there are only thirty-seven which grow to 

 that size, of which eighteen only are found in their forests, and 

 seven only of these are employed in civil and maritime archi- 

 tecture. 



There is one subject, connected with forest trees, upon whic^i 

 there appears to be a diversity of opinion, and which I wish to 

 present to your consideration, that you may compare it with 

 your own experience. It is, as to the best time to fell timber, 

 with a view to its durability. To me, it is a matter of much 

 surprise, that the opinions of practical men are not uniform and 

 settled upon this subject — a subject so important to almost every 

 man in society, and particularly to those who have any inter- 

 est in civil and naval architecture. The subject appears to be 



