STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 97 



Tree State." I had occasion in looking up the subject of forestry 

 recently to obtain statistics in regard to the changes that are going 

 on in the forests of Maine, and to take the changes on the Penob- 

 scot river for illustration : — I find in looking over the period of forty 

 years, from 1853 to 1893, and contrasting the first five years of the 

 period with the last five, the following changes in forest products : 

 I find that the spruce has increased from an average of 65,500,000 

 feet a year to 111,000,000 feet, or in other words the growth of the 

 spruce has increased 70 per cent. I find that the annual production 

 of the hemlock has increased from 12,000,000 to 24,000,000 in that 

 period of time, or in other words, 100 per cent And I find that 

 the pine has fallen off from 69,000,000 to 24,000,000, or in other 

 words, it has declined 65 per cent. That is to say, of the pine 

 there is produced but 35 per cent of the same amount there was 

 thirty years ago. The pine is running out, and unless recuperative 

 methods are adopted, twenty-five years hence we shall not be 

 known as the "Pine Tree State." Within a limited period of 

 time the pine will not exist in the State unless some change is 

 brought about. Now I state these facts so that we may vote under- 

 standingly. At the same time I am in favor of the pine as our State 

 emblem. I think it should be adopted on historical grounds, but 

 so far as present propriety is concerned we might as well call 

 this State "Spruce Gum State" or "Spruce Tree State." I 

 know it would take the poetr}', or the sentiment, out of the idea, 

 because there is a good sentiment that clusters around the pine, 

 and I think it should be preserved. This State has been known 

 through all its history as "Pine Tree State," and many of the 

 leading citizens of the State have obtained their wealth from the 

 pine ; I believe it should be selected in preference to any of the 

 flowers that have been named for the reasons that were presented 

 in the paper. Notwithstanding this decline in the growth of the 

 pine in our State I think it will be best to adopt this as the emblem 

 and then prove true to the emblem. I believe if we allow this 

 matter to drift for the next quarter of a century it will be almost 

 impossible to restore the pine tree to the State of Maine ; but com- 

 mencing now it is possible, and we can be true to the name, — true 

 to the motto. It seems to me that the pine is far more fitting for 

 an emblem than any other that has been suggested. We have 

 heard other flowers suggested, but they are in blossom but a short 

 period of time ; there is no flower or tree that would stand for so 



