190 A. EK. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 602 
In 1622 an order (No. 207) was made by the Company requiring 
the annual storage of a large amount of corn, as a public magazine, 
to be used only in times of scarcity, each person to contribute his 
share. 
But the rapid cutting and burning of the cedars soon began to 
alarm the more intelligent governors and planters, because of the 
growing scarcity of good timber, and also because the lack of its 
shelter from the blighting salt winds soon began to be felt, as inju- 
rious to the plantations. Governor Butler, in particular, seems to have 
been impressed with this injurious result. Consequently stringent 
laws were soon passed restricting the cutting of cedar and forbid- 
ding its exportation without special warrant. At ‘first “chests” or 
boxes of cedar were much used for the exportation of tobacco and 
various other commodities, but in 1632 a law was passed prohibiting 
the exportation of “ cedar chests,” whether full or empty, without 
special permission. Probably the lumber of the chests brought a 
good price in London, at that time, for furniture. These chests were 
made very large and of thick lumber. Finally a rule was adopted 
by the Company that the captain of the magazine ships should not 
receive chests of tobacco weighing over 1500 pounds. The price for 
sawing the cedar timber into planks, which had to be done: by hand, 
was usually 2° 6° per foot, in Bermuda, therefore the thicker the 
lumber was made for chests the greater the profit. 
In 1622 the Bermuda Company enacted a series of two hundred 
and twelve “Orders and Constitutions,” “for the better governing 
of the actions and affaires of the said Company and Plantation” of 
the Summer Islands. These mostly remained in force for at least 
fifty years, with few changes. No. 115 contains the following 
restrictions on cutting timber :—‘“‘they shall also have especial care 
of the preservation of timber that no waste be made thereof. And 
in particular that no man presume without the owner’s consent under 
his hand and seals, to cut down young Cedar trees, before they be 
come to their growth, under a grievous penalty to be assessed at the 
descretion of the said Governour and Councell. Neither shall they 
suffer any Timber, Boards or Plankes to be transported out of the 
said Ilands, without especiall warrant from the Governour and Com- 
pany here.” 
No. 116 reads as follows :—‘ Care also shall bee taken that all 
sorts of trees, which defend the Ilands from Winds and Tempests, 
bee preserved and maintained ; where decay hath been that young 
Plants be there set and cherished.” 
