88 TEAJfSAOXlONS 



REPORT ON FOREST TREES. 



BY PKOF. WILXIAM S. CLARK. 



In the inspired account of the creation of man and the existing races of 

 animals and plants, we are informed, that trees were essential to the per- 

 fection of the Garden of Eden, the record being as follows : " And out of the 

 ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight 

 and good for food." It is also stated as conclusive evidence of the sur- 

 passsing wisdom of Solomon, that " he spake of trees, from the cedar tree 

 that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop, that springeth out of the wall." 



Sustained by such authority in favor of the study and cultivation of trees, 

 your Committee would venture the opinion, that much more time and 

 thought should be given by farmers to the real value and proper use of old 

 forests, and to the preservation and perfection of younger timber of sponta- 

 neous growth, as well as to the planting of those species, which, while they 

 improve the soil, make larger returns to the cultivator, than any other crop. 



It is confidently believed, that the full-blooded, crude Yankee has an in- 

 stinctive hatred of all monarchs, especially those of the forest ; and that 

 the fatal axe is as peculiarly his weapon, as is the boomerang that of the 

 Australian savage. 



A reason for this will appear to the traveller, who will ascend Mt. Wash- 

 ington, and cast his eye over the immense wilderness, which covers the slopes 

 and the valleys of the White Hills ; or to him who will visit the head waters 

 of the Connecticut, and wander a few days in the unbroken forest, which 

 stretches away northward, more than one hundred miles. 



New England, two centuries ago, was a heavily timbered range for wild 

 beasts and their Indian hunters ; but so fierce and pitiless has been the Yan- 

 kee warfare against the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, that they are all, 

 Indians, animals and forests, well nigh exterminated. 



It is time for this indiscriminate slaughter to cease, and for some method 

 to be devised and employed, for repairing the damage already sustained. 

 Unless Massachusetts does more to preserve her forests where they exist, 

 and to recreate them on the, rocky hillsides and sandy plains, which have 

 been rendered unproductive and almost worthless by a wretched system of 

 farming ; she will be often compelled, as she recently has been, to hear the 

 sad voice of one and another of her agricultural towns, asking leave to expire. 

 The few of her intelligent young farmers, who cannot forsake their native 

 state, will gather around her cities and manufacturing towns, and become 

 large gardeners, raising fruits and vegetables ; while the remainder, who 

 adhere to their calling, will leave for a new country. 



Well has it been said, that a broad band of waste land follows gradually 

 in the steps of cultivation. " Thorns and thistles, ill-favored and poisonons 



