THE LUMBER SUPPLY OF THE WORLD 



433 



North American continent two big forest districts. The 

 great eastern is parted from the western, the Pacific ter- 

 ritory, by the vast prairie districts, where nowadays such 

 a large part of the world supply of wheat, corn, etc., is 

 produced. The northern part of the eastern forest dis- 

 trict resembles mostly Scandinavia and North Russia, the 

 middle and the south parts the former forest districts of 

 the European continent. Within the more easily accessi- 

 ble districts, man has dealt with axe and fire, and within 

 the less accessible he has ruled with fire, in such a manner 

 that nobody who has not seen it with his own eyes could 

 possibly imagine its like. The result is at any rate, that 

 the wood in those regions from which it might be shipped 

 at prices halfway reasonable, is just as severely taxed as 

 in North Sweden. In addition thereto, a population, with 

 a strong demand for lumber, now counting over 100 mil- 

 lion, is living in North America. They will soon be con- 

 fronted with a real lumber scarcity, which already should 

 have made itself painfully felt, if the big pine woods in 

 the Southern States — resembling the pine woods within 

 the Mediterranean territory, already wasted by Pheni- 

 cians, Greeks and Romans, etc. — had not provided a short 

 respite. In America, during the last half century there 

 has been a squandering, a wastefulness, surpassing every 

 description. Nothing in the least has been done from a 

 practical point of view up to this century to stop it and 

 to restore the forests. It will also be the scarcity of and 

 demand for lumber which, within some decades, will 

 more than anything else drive lumber prices high. 



"But North America has also west of the prairies con- 

 siderable forest districts. In the Rocky Mountains there 

 are forest lands with sparsely set woods and excellent 

 lumber. These are of great importance to the develop- 

 ment of neighboring states, which, for the most part, are 

 poor in woods, but will have but little and indirect influ- 

 ence on the world market of lumber. 



"On the other hand, it is quite a different matter with 

 the thick, tall grown, splendid woods which cover the 

 slopes of the Coast Cordilleras toward the Pacific from 

 California in the south to Alaska in the north. There 

 grows the only wood supply of the world which is of real 

 danger to us. 



"Not yet have they begun to be exploited on a real 

 large scale, but at any rate the lumber therefrom is our 

 worst competitor in the countries bordering on the Pacific 

 Ocean. Once the Panama Canal is definitely finished it 

 will not take long until "Oregon pine" and other Pacific 

 Coast woods will ' appear on the European market. 

 Scores of new sawmills and wood pulp mills will be built 

 during the coming decades on the shores of British Co- 

 lumbia, and from there enormous quantities of lumber 

 and paper pulp will flood the world. The wages certainly 

 are high, and the waste is exorbitant, but that can be 

 overcome, and for every dollar saved these well-located, 

 quickly growing woods become more and more capable 

 of competition. Nowhere on the face of the globe are 

 so many millions to be gained by clever, financially strong 

 people. 



"Only when the primeval forest supply in the woods on 



the North American Pacific Coast is exhausted will the 

 lumber prices rise considerably. When will that happen? 

 That depends on several factors. The world war surely 

 is driving back the economical development for at least 

 one decade ; therefore, it may take three or perhaps four 

 decades until those reserves are emptied. It is possible 

 that it will come quicker, depending on how the lumber 

 demand of America itself is growing. 



"I have now reviewed the great reserve supplies of ex- 

 isting pine wood. The tropical zones have none such 

 and their woods, for many reasons, never can replace 

 those of the temperate climes. The supply of pine wood 

 in the temperate forests of the southern hemisphere is 

 so insignificant that neither at present nor in the near 

 future could there be any thought of supplying even 

 Australia, South Africa and South America, with their 

 demands for lumber, much less to compete on the mar- 

 kets of the northern hemisphere. 



"This inventory proves thait really there are very few 

 countries which by nature, position and shipping possi- 

 bilities, etc., have a chance to produce and to export to 

 the world market any wood products at prices so ad- 

 vantageous to the country as Sweden. When in addi- 

 tion our investigation shows that the demand of the world 

 is steadily increasing, whereas the supply of the world 

 during the next decades surely is going to decrease, it is 

 evident that we confidently can expect to get still better 

 and better payment for the products from our woods. 

 The main thing is to produce as much as possible, so we 

 will have something to sell when the prosperous times are 

 coming. We have still twenty or thirty years in which to 

 prepare. It is important that we use this time well, that 

 with our limited money supply we make every effort to 

 painstakingly and with foresight invest as much as we 

 can in the improvements of our woods. That this will 

 prove highly remunerative to the generation coming after 

 us, there can be no doubt." 



A CONSERVATION EXHIBIT 



A unique exhibit in conservation was held during the 

 latter part of May at the Seventh Regiment Armory in 

 New York City under the auspices of the General Fed- 

 eration of Women's Clubs and the personal direction 

 of Miss Mira L. Dock, chairman of the Forestry Com- 

 mittee, and Mrs. John Dickinson Sherman, chairman of 

 the Conservation Department. 



The exhibit was of the most practical nature ever 

 held and was no less marked in its aesthetic and poetic 

 features. Shade tree commissions, the United States 

 Forest Service, the United States Bureau of Entomology, 

 the New York State College of Forestry, the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies and Burroughs Clubs 

 all did their best to bring home the fundamental princi- 

 ples that each stood for, and the coordinated efforts of 

 all were an entire success. American Forestry did its 

 share in obtaining the necessary cooperation and coor- 

 dinating the various branches. 



