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some of the more important of the objects •which should be kept 

 in view in the cultivation and extension of our forests, and the 

 native and foreign trees best suited for those purposes. 



The first want, as has been shown, is fuel. The trees best 

 suited to the purpose, are the hickories, the oaks, the beech, the 

 birches, the maples, and the pines, particularly the pitch pine ; 

 and the chestnut and hemlock for close furnaces. If fuel is to 

 be used in the form of charcoal, the hard woods only arc of great 

 value, particularly chestnut, the birches, alders, oaks and maples. 

 As materials for house building, the pines, the spruce and the 



hemlock, are generally employed Chestnut resists 



decay and is more in use. Flooi'S are sometimes made of beech, 

 of birch, and of ash. The best materials, probably, are oak, 

 white pine, chestnut and spruce. 



For shipbuilding, oak is considered absolutely necessary, as 

 being preferable to any other wood. The best kinds are white 



oak, and black or yellow bark oak In the construction 



of most of the ships of Europe, great quantities of larch are 

 used. This tree might be profitably planted on thousands of 

 acres which are now unproductive. Small vessels, remarkably 

 light and durable, have been wholly made of pitch pine. This 

 tree grows well on sands so barren as to furnish nourishment for 

 no other tree. Pitch pine is also used, in preference to other 

 timber, for the upper works of large vessels, and for top-masts. 

 "White pine is also used, especially for decks, as it retains the 

 oakum in its seams ; and for the knees, hackmatack and spruce ; 



and rock maple for keels Spruce and pine are also 



used for the upper spars. For boats, cedar and oak are neces- 

 sary. 



For fencing materials, chestnut and cedar are found most dura- 

 ble. The former is remarkable for its rapid growth. White 

 cedars grow most luxuriantly in wet swamps, where nothing else 

 will flourish. The various native and foreign thorns, the hemlock 

 and cedar, and numerous small trees, furnish fit materials for 

 hedges, which, in many parts of the State, must ultimately take 

 the place of other fences. 



Furniture, of the most ornamental Idnds, is now made of our 

 beautiful maples, birches, cherries and beech. Tables of extreme 

 beauty are sometimes made of the root of oak, or maple, or birch. 



