Maine History Online.

spacing guidelines for the mast tree species. See State guidelines. Crop tree crowns should be in the upper level of the forest canopy (dominant and/or codominant trees), and tree removal hibernia suppressed by other tree crowns. Cut or kill all trees whose crowns touch the crown of the crop tree on four sides (three.

Harvesting and distributing masts required a network of local workers, many of whom were involved in closely related forest industries that produced large quantities of boards for buildings and ships.

New Hampshire History Network. Join or Renew Donate Now Explore Our Collections Contact Us Sign up for our ENewsletter Shop My Cart Image Requests (0). Great Britain had depleted its forests by the 17th century and looked to the tall, straight white pines of Maine and New Hampshire to supply its appetite for timber for.

The white pine tree (Pinus strobus) was especially important in Colonial New Hampshire. These tall trees were perfect for the masts of sailing ships. Every winter representatives of the King of England would mark white pines trees with a mark called the"King's Broad Arrow." The colonists were not allowed to cut down these trees for their own use; they were reserved for the crown. The British navy had contractors who cultivated certain types of timber or selected specific trees for certain parts of the ship (oak trees that had a certain type of bend were used for knees, for example), and trees that were meant for ships were marked with a"broad arrow." Masts for trees came from areas with a lot of pine or softwoods, specifically North America and the area around the Baltic.