246 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



( ooperatiou was iii;ui«j:urate(l with two new States — California 

 and IVnnsyhania. The iiro-protfclion needs oi' both of these States 

 are hu<j:e, iv(niirin«i- funds many times greater than coiihl be pro- 

 \ iiled. Two of the older States suspended coo[)eration, owin<r to 

 State departmental dilliculties. With one of these States — South 

 Dakota— cooperation was revived toward the very close of the year. 

 In the other — Kentucky — the difliculties are of more serious charac- 

 ter, since the State has withdrawn its supi)ort from forestry and 

 forest-fire prevention. At the close, of the year 24 States were co- 

 operatino- actively with the Federal (Jovernment. 



Cooperation with the States in fire protection has shrunk durin<^ 

 the year, measured in terms of actual activity. This is because, with 

 the same funds available, it has been possible to hire on the average 

 only about two-thirds the number of men formerly employed. In 

 some States the shrinkage has been even greater. This circumstance 

 created a serious condition in many of the States, particularly in the 

 West, where a most severe fire season impelled an expansion in all 

 tire-protection activities. 



The States Mith which the Forest Service now cooperates in fire 

 prevention to the extent of its very limited funds contain approxi- 

 mately 150,0()(),000 acres of forest land which are under some form of 

 protection. The same States contain at least 65.000,000 acres of 

 forest land which is largely or wholly unprotected from fire. There 

 are 11 additional States which should join forces with the Federal 

 Government in forest-fire prevention. These States contain at least 

 100,000,000 acres of forest land now almost wholl}^ without protec- 

 tion of any kind. In other words, out of a total of 315,000,000 acres 

 of private forest land upon which we depend for future supplies of 

 timber less than one-half is now being protected from fire. 



Lack of protection applies particularly to the enormous areas of 

 logged-off land where rapid second grow^th should now be taking 

 place. The destruction every year of all young growth, aside from 

 much merchantable timber, on enormous areas of forest land is the 

 very root of timber depletion and future shortages of essential forest 

 products. The first essential stej) in a national forestry policy is to 

 put an end to this wasteful and unnecessary destruction by forest 

 fires. 



Forest-fire statistics collected, as in former years, in cooperation 

 with States and private agencies indicated that the total number of 

 recorded fires throughout the country during the calendar year 1919 

 was more than 27.000, tlie damage $14,500,000, and the area burned 

 8,250,000 acres. These figures are below the average for the four 

 years 1916 to 1919, and indicate that taking the country as a Avhole 

 the season was an unusually favorable one except for the West. Over 

 one-third the total number of fires and total area burned and over 

 one-half the damage in 1919 occurred west of the (ireat Plains. 



RESEARCH. 



FOREST PRODUCTS. 



The year marked the completion of 10 years of research by the 

 Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis. 'Its work, at first 

 little appreciated, is noAv generally recognized both in this country 



