Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-07-31
ANCIENT PLYMOUTH'S WOOD.
LAND.
The Great Fcrest Tract Close to the
Pilgrims Landing Place has Never
Been Settled.

|
Fathers first landed take up the ordi
nary toui lists attention. Although h.
sees nearby the wooded heights %
Manomet he hardly realizes in tht
course of q visit of II day o. two hos
all about the second Oldest communit,
| in British North America extends al
cXpansc Of unsettled forest land thai
has never been anything else.
| There are, in fact, Two sides to oil
| Plytnouth-Plymouth Town and Ply
| mouth woods. The former is about the
| hest known Of American villages. II
manufactures rope enough each year "a
| reach heaven only knows how many
| times around the globe, but its real
business is being hist )riCaI. Particu-
larly i'll the good summer time its Side
| walks ana trolley cas- arc continually
| flIled with enthusla site TOMS from
| every nook ana corner Of this land and
| Other lands; pausin.s rcvcrently be-
| meath the hooded structure that covers
| the famous rock, climbing the long hill
| that oveftops the tom 10 stand unde-
| the huge Forefathers' Monument sur
veying with admiration me venera bic
sword blade which used t. GO snicker-
| snack IN Old Myles Standiah's hands
| deciphering with difficulty and fervor
| h" ancient stones On burial Hill.
Plymouth: Town is. in fact. a national
museum of colonial antiquities Of ever
Increasing popularity as The records Of
the t"aihc department OF the New
Haven road would easily prove.
But so back to the woods-and they
inplnGe very closely upon the weather
beaten houses OF Plymouth Town-and
you discover q forest that is almost
better than primeval. J. has been as
sociatcd with some Of the earliest at
tempts at scientific forestry in this
country. AS Professor II. s. Graves of
the Yale Forestry school has written:
'Eowhere else in the country has SO
much planting been done On so limited
a .calc" This was the scene about 11io
OF the earliest attempt in this country
20 raise pine timber. A little to tn.
north in Marshfield arc the white pines
which Daniel Webster set cut about
seventy FEARS ago.
The inimenSity of this stretch Of
woodland regularly astuuishes those
visitors who become aware of its
existence for the :irst time. From
Maine to Mexico there Is 10 wooded
district bordering closely on the ocean
that is comparable with it in extent
and beauty. II has always been prac-
tically uninhabited; today its 6enizens
are mostly millionaircs Portuguese
cranberry picllerG ana Wild deer. So it
is naturally surprising to fnd a thirty
mig town of l0,G00 inhabitants. situated
n, 10 IL n rurt ~,
most denscly populated Of the Union.
pcering out OF a forest that il almost
as deep and tangled as Wnen the Pill
q i'm Fathers landed With Liunderbuss
ana axe To subdue il. The ancient
township Of Plymouth, The most extern
sive in Ala chu&,tts. and more than
twice the size Of tn" Stanilri township
81 ono OF thu. Western states. embraces
about 50 square miles. of which more
han Go are aninha hitel. The woods
Furthermore. rXtcrj nito several other
townships. so that the whole forest is
or" Of Which Il king might be proud.
Among the attractions Of the domain
there all. of course. So lahc.;. one for
each day OF Tie year, with rsE throWn
inf all that the guide Locks ana
prospcctusas Of tho region say is true.
Plymouth Woods nIVc probably not
changed $" much since .heir cool sum-
mer shades first pleased Tie Pilgrims
emerged from the gloom alI dre2rinesS
OF the winter of 1t:1. Although there
has been more or less cutting Of trees
at intervals. these are still the "nobl.,
forests IF which the explorer GoSnold
wlotc. SAYING that they contained the
elcgantine. the thorn and the honey
srcltle. the wild pea. the tansey, ana
young sasaafras. strawberries. rasp-
berries. Gooseberries. all in profuSion">
The one constant menace to the Ply
mouth Woods is the forest fire. Ovrr
and over again in the past century and
half considerable positions OF the TIM
Der land of the histori" tow II have been
devastated. Or May Of this year a
fire broke out and ragged for five days
over about IL 900 acres III the towns of
Plymouth. Plympton an;! Kingston
occaSioning an estimated loss of SIS, 900
and leaving IL deSolated tract which
fortunately lies utsi,la The region most
favored by the summer cottagers
Special efforts are now being made to
prevent any repetition Of this squan-
dering of forest resources. Throughout
the Woods fire belts have tcen estab-
lished-that IS. lanes with the under
brush cut out have been cpened to
serve as base lines in lighting future
fires. This system has been built up in
accordance with the practice of expert
foresters in this AMI ether lands.
About three years ago several of these
belts We're established and the districts
which they protect have since then
been comparatively free from confla-
graticns. Recent reports Of the Ply
mouth forester. Mr.. George r. Briggs,
show how inexpensive It is to put out
these forest fires if they are taken in
time. In the year 1904 thcre were put gu.
in this township 81 fires at an expense
Of $405.05. or an average Of s1O.& each.
The Massachusetts Forestry Associa-
ton is endeavoring 10 extend this sys-
tenn of protection to every point of the
Cape Cod region. The railroad COM
pany, too. which operates here-the
New Haven road-recognizes the value
| of these forests as an asset. for they
attract hundreds of summer resi-
dents and will cois<thuc to attract
l