H. GAFFRON 



limited supply of coal, it is quite clear that we are spending mainly 

 as fuel irreplaceable organic material. 



Fig. 1 . — Virgin forests in 1 850. 



Can these losses of stored products of photosynthesis be offset 

 by the assimilation of carbon going on today? Within the cultivated 

 areas of industrialized countries this is not the case, and foresters agree 

 that virgin forests are more or less stationary. New growth balances 

 natural decay. Only well-planned agriculture and expert forestry 

 may perhaps furnish all that we need in the future provided the 

 increasing demand for fuel and energy is eventually met by the general 

 development of atomic power. At present, the products of agriculture 

 are consumed within a few years after harvesting. There is no increase 

 of our reserve of organic carbon due to this source. On the contrary, 

 the improvident exploitation of the soil in many places leads to di- 

 minishing returns. In the United States, fifty million acres now under 

 cultivation are so badly eroded as to invite abandonment. These sad 

 circumstances have received widespread attention, and effective 

 measures are being taken to check further losses and to regain the lost 

 fertility of the soil (13). Not so well known are the conditions regard- 

 ing the forests in this country (1). The following figures speak for 

 themselves: 



28 



