358 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Number of timber sales classified according to amount oj sale. 



It will be noted that nearly 97 per cent of the sales of the past year 

 w^ere under $500 in amount, and that the increase in sales over those 

 during the fiscal year 1910 was almost wholly confined to the smaller 

 transactions. 



Aside from provision for permanent needs of localities dependent 

 uf)on National Forests for their supplies of timber, primary consider- 

 ation is given to the silvicultural needs of the Forests themselves 

 and the utilization of material whose removal will be of benefit. 

 The sale of merchantable dead timber and stands of overripe timber 

 in which decay equals or exceeds the growth, and the cutting of 

 mature trees from stands where their removal will greatly increase 

 the growth of the remaining forest, are essential to accomplish this 

 object. This policy not only makes possible additional revenue 

 through sales of timber for the general market, in excess of local 

 needs, but actually increases the amount of wood being produced on 

 the Forests, puts the productive capacity of the soil to better use, 

 and insures larger supplies of timber for the future. 



In fixing the annual cut the limit is set with reference to the 

 amount of timber which can be secured as a sustained yield from 

 individual Forests or groups of Forests which form well-defined 

 economic units. In view of the general conditions in regard to 

 timber supply in the United States and the rapid exhaustion of the 

 stands of timber in private ownership it appears advisable to go 

 even further than this in restricting the immediate cut from the 

 National Forests, and to reserve additional supplies of forest prod- 

 ucts in order to assist in tiding the country over the period of eco- 

 nomic readjustment which must inevitably ensue when the main 

 supplies of timber outside of Government ownership are exhausted. 

 To a certain extent no other course is open now, for only a small 

 fraction of the total amount which is being produced annually on 

 many of the Forests by growth can be sold under present conditions. 

 But as a broad public policy it would seem advisable for the Govern- 

 ment to accumulate a surplus stock against the time when the demand 

 for forest products, in view of the rapidly diminishing supply, will be 

 one of the most critical economic conditions confronting the country. 



