WOODS AND FORESTRY 



COLLECTION OF NORTH AMERICAN WOODS 



ONE of the first steps taken by Mr. Jesup, after his election as 

 President of the Museum, was toward the establishment — 

 at his own expense and as a gift to the Museum — of a col- 

 lection showing the natural history and economic features of all 

 the trees of the United States that could be used for commercial 

 purposes. 



An especially opportune time for making this collection arose when 

 the Tenth Census of the United States embodied in its work the plan 

 of a report upon the wood resources of our country. Professor Charles 

 S. Sargent was engaged as special agent, and Mr. Jesup fortunately 

 secured his cooperation in the preparation of the collection for the 

 Museum. 



The collection of 420 species was formally presented to the Museum 

 in 1891, about twelve years having been required to bring it together. 

 A number of species were at that time lacking, but an expedition sent 

 out in the fall of 1891 secured all but a very few unimportant ones, 

 so that the present collection of 3,092 specimens, of which 505 are 

 on exhibition, is practically complete in its representation of the native 

 woods of North America, north of Mexico. The trunks of the trees 

 in the exhibition series are of an average height of five feet, and cut 

 so as to show vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections, half of each 

 section being polished. 



The foliage, flower, and fruit of each species are illustrated by a 

 water color sketch, the work of Mrs. Mary Robeson Sargent, and some 

 also by artificial sprays in natural size and color. 



The sections of the California redwood tree and the giant sequoia 



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