27 



hand, aa if by magic. Bread at the same time was cheap and men flocked 

 here to escape the hunger which pressed them in other countries. Wood 

 was cheap to supply them with fuel for their houses, and to transport them 

 to our shores bj steam. The same materials of lumber and fuel have doub- 

 led, tripled and quadrupled their former prices, and those cities, Tillages and 

 towns continue to thrive, because they have grown rich and are able to pay 

 more ; and by the opening of new and better means of transportation, the 

 costs of moving the people and the freights yet remain comaratively cheap. 

 But this march in the road of improvement cannot always remain. Cities 

 like men can never become so rich that they can continue to increase in 

 wealth after the? have to pay more for building materials, than the buildings 

 will pay interest upon when they are constructed ; nor will men remain after 

 rents excel wages. 



In the erection of ordinary buildings of brick and stone, except cut stone 

 walls, with wo1)den floors and joists, it is estimated that the cost of timber- 

 ing, flooring, roofing, wainscotting, the finishing of entrances, cornices, 

 cupulas, doors, window-sashes and blinds, makes an expense for wood work 

 exceeding all the brick and stone work. If the walls are of bricks, 

 then it required wood to burn them from the clay, making one-third of the 

 expense. The lime is burned with wood, and half its value arose from that 

 item. The clay is in the bank, the rock is in the quarry, and wagons com- 

 posed greatly of wood must carry these to the kiln, apd then to the place 

 where they are to enter into the building. But we have not gone far enough 

 back yet. The brick-maker, the lime-burner, the stone-mason, the brick-layer, 

 the plasterer, the painter, the carpenter, the common laborer who tends to 

 all these, and the farmer who feeds them, have all needed wood in their houses 

 for fuel, in the construction of their dwellings to shelter them, and in their 

 stables to protect their animals. But if we come to the building itself. The 

 hogsheads and lime-boxes, the hod and scraper, the mortar-bed and board, 

 the pail and water barrel, the hoe, shovel-handle and rake, the, tressels and 

 and scaffolds, inclined planes and ladders, the plumb and trowel, are wood. As 

 with the masonj so with the carpenter, the plasterer and painter, everything 

 they grasp to work with is first of all wood. 



There were in the United States in 1860, 3,S62,33'7 dwelling-houses, be- 

 sides all public buildings, churches, educational institutions, stores, manu- 

 factories, depots, warehouses, barns, &c. How large a proportion of these 

 were brick and stone we cannot tell, but by far the great majority were of 

 wood. What proportion of their cost came of wood V A little hardware, a 

 little paint, a little masonary, a little plastering and all elie is wood. The 

 barns for keeping the hay and grain must be wood, or else a space must be 

 left next to the wall for the air to circulate. The out-houses and fences are 

 generally of wood. 



But these houses, barns, out-houses and fences give one-half the value to 



