4 
food and clothing materials thousands of folds. Instead of 
having herds and flocks of domestic animals, our Indians 
depended upon the wild animals for their meats, and chiefly 
upon acorns, nuts, and roots, with fish, for their other foods, 
and upon skins, grasses, and bark, instead of cotton, wool, silk, 
and linen, for their clothing. Although the present territory 
of the United States had three kinds of native apples, I am not 
aware that any Indian ever conceived the idea of having an 
orchard or of improving the fruit. Although plums, currants, 
strawberries, and other delicious fruits, grew wild in small 
quantities in the few open places, yet we are not aware that 
our Indians ever conceived the idea that they could increase 
the quantity or quality of these fruits by assisting nature. Thev 
plucked or slew what grew wild, and submitting to their fate, 
starved when nature’s limited supply was exhausted. It 
took a great many acres of land to support one Indian and all 
New Hampshire supported but a few thousand. 
Now, while we assist nature, and by so doing produce farm 
crops and domestic herds and flocks that would have as- 
tonished the most enlightened nations of the world a few 
years ago by their abundance and quality, yet we, strange to 
say, savage-like, depend upon unassisted nature to produce our 
wood and timber. We utterly discard the theory, in general, 
of the savages in regard to depending upon unassisted nature to 
grow our needed supplies of food and clothing materials, but 
when we come to the needed supplies of timber, we, like the 
Indians as to other crops, depend upon unassisted nature. 
Just as though man cannot grow a timber tree as well as he 
can grow anearofcorn! Just as though he must let ninety- 
and-nine worthless trees occupy his land to each valuable one! 
Just as though he must let worthless weed-trees like the little 
red cherry, grey birch, alder, and the like, cover his grounds 
instead of the white pine, the oaks, the chestnut, the ash, and 
other valuable trees ! Just as though he must let his old fields 
and pastures be partially covered by the worthless, scattering, 
limby white pines instead of planting the seed and growing 
this, the most majestic of our trees, in its perfection and great 
value! Just as though man has not the wit and wisdom to 
