Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-03-07
EASTERN SHORE.
-'assing of wild Ducks and White oal
Trees in Dorchester County.

7HssiHE VIM "hts van
Trees in Dorchester County.
A Cambridge, Nd, correspondent
writes:
Wild ducks have almost ceased to
requent the waters OF the Choptank
river. 1t is not many years since the
Intensive flats in the broad bay, that
sweep from Cambridge to Cooks Point
afforded some of the finest duck shoot
ing in the chesapeake region. Be-
ginning with Handbook s Bay, fronting
vhat is now known as West Cambridge,
he hunter had choice of shooting
grounds that extended Is miles west
ward to the Chesapeake.
In those days such estates as Ham
brooks, Sandy Hill, Horns Point,
CASTLE Haven aud Cooks Point were
.lmost international in their fame as
hooting boxes. But it is doubtful il
the most skillful duck hunter could in
these days secure enough birds to his
gun to make the sport worthy of atten-
lion. Where there used to BIZ countless
| thousands of ducks and many geese
eeding throughout the entire shooting
| season, one can scarcely count dozen
| in week.
The oyster business is responsible for
driving wild ducks out of Choptank
waters. The dredgers and sorapers have
| destroyed the feeding grounds with
| their iron implements, and the ducks
| have sought other places. The sea gull
| is about the only aquatic bird that re-
| mains with US 10 winter. The writer
! made it point about one month ago
| to count all the ducks in sight during
| 1ne whole day weather Just right for
| lucks-and only saw three little dip
| pers. The situation was in the very
| heart Of the old feeding grounds.
An old citizen Of Dorchester county
recently remarked the fact that the
white oak timber, which was one oil
/ he boasts of old Dorset lang syne, has
very nearly disappeared. Investigation
| proves him to be correct. At the be-
| ginning Of the century Just closed Dor
hester was perhaps the most richly
'ndowed with timber of any county on
| he Eastern Shore. 1t was particularly
rich in variety of white oak especially
/ idapted to shipbuilding. Hence it was
much sought by builders all over the
/ \tlantic coast. Baltimore built her
famous clippers mainly from timber
,ut in our forests. The coffee barks
OF the Monumental City had ribs Of
Dorchester oak set over keels hewn
from giants grown here. The ship
building industry was for nearly n
century large and profitable in the
/ ounty. Vessels OF great dimensions
| in their day, were built and launched
On the rivers of Dorchester, affording
employment to many men and support
ing prosperous, busy villages that are
ow sleepy communities.
Old residents claim that the county
,ould have continued to SUPPLY any
thing like normal demand for white
oak timber until the present time, and
still be rich ia this valuable product
| nf the forest. But the Civil War created
such a demand for ship timber of the
irst class that the eyes of the whole
shipbuilding fraternity seemed directed
in this way. Prospectors swarmed all
over the county looking for tracts OF
white oak land and paying big prices
wen for the timber privileges. This
inaugurated a period of slaughter.
Logging camps were established in our
orests and thousands of men engaged
in cutting down and carrying away
What is now known to have been the
most valuable asset in the county. The
iespoilers came from every shipbuild
ing point on the Atlantic coast from
Haine to Baltimore. The slaughter
tntinued for many years after the war
until the supply was nearly exhausted
There is not much white oak left in
the county now, and it ia not possible
to find large tractsof it aDywhere. Still
the fame of Dorchester oak is such that
It IS still sought by builders who crave
superior timber, and there is always
some movement here in it for ships
hat are to be built way down East In
Maine. The builders OF that Eastern
State seem tc be very constant in their
aith in our white oak, for when one
hears of demand for II ships frame
inquiry generally reveals the fact that
it is wanted in that commonwealth.
While Dorcbt ster did not possess as
much wealth in pine as some other
counties in the State, it was a great
pine country. Tho original pines here
grew TALL and stately and possessed a
grain and fiber much esteemed by those
in want of great spars. Hence both
timber and masts for vessels we're cut
here for hundred years or more and
considered about the best that could
be secured. In the old days before the
var, and during that unhappy period
too, there was a slaughter going on in
the pine forests. First growth timber
was cut and marketed for tirewood as a
regular business. Men who owned
large tracts of land cut down virgin
forests and sold the wood in Baltimore
and Philadelphia with careless dis
regard of the future. Forty years ago
Light street wharf, in Baltimore, was
mainly devoted to wood huckstering,
and large percentage Of the wood sold
there was cut in this county.
The lumber business seems never to
have been large one in Dorchester.
With a great supply of magnificent
first growth pine available there were
comparatively few saw mills in the
county at any period Now, here IS a
curious fact in connection with this
subject, namely: the county is al
present dotted with saw mills manu-
featuring lumber out of second and
third growth pine-the original growth
having long since disappeared. These
mills are cutting anything in the
shape of tree that is offered for sale,
and much of it is all sap. But If the
glory that old Dorset once felt in her
timber has departed, she has yet cause
to feel Pride in her splendid lands,
much OF which, stretching along the
beautiful rivers for miles, yields from
20 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre.