REPORT OF THE FORESTER. 185 



11 of the Central States where the distribution of lumber is proba- 

 bly most highly developed and its varying phases and tendencies are 

 to be seen most clearly. Other studies have dealt with the technical 

 sides of utilization and marketing and the replacement of lumber 

 by other structural materials. 



The Forest Service has cooperated with the Bureau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Commerce meanwhile in studies of the opportunities for 

 marketing American lumber abroad; and with the Federal Trade 

 Commission in a series of hearings for the presentation of data by 

 the lumbermen themselves regarding the condition of their industry. 

 The Service has been in close touch with the Federal Trade Commis- 

 sion in the development of the entire inquiry and in the consideration 

 of its conclusions, with a view to making the study of as much value 

 as possible to the commission in relation to business methods and 

 forms of organization in this industry. 



The results of this broad survey, which is practically completed, 

 will be embodied in 10 bulletins dealing with such subjects as tim- 

 ber ownership and lumber production by important regions, the cost 

 and methods of distributing lumber, the most effective use of mate- 

 rial now wasted in manufacture or converted into products of little 

 value, and the character of the public timber holdings, together 

 with the methods of administering them and the economic service 

 which they should render. 



The investigation has brought out strikingly the bad effect of the 

 wholesale turning over of public timber lands into private owner- 

 ship under the laws applicable to the public domain before the 

 National Forests were created. The conditions resulting from pri- 

 vate ownership, with its inevitable speculation and high capitalization 

 of private timber lands, and from the demands of private capital have 

 turned one of the great natural economic assets of the country into 

 an industrial burden. Its weight is now being felt in frequent over- 

 production of lumber, which demoralizes the industry and leads to 

 wasteful use of the very resource acquired from the public. These 

 conditions have been accentuated by the narrowing market for lum- 

 ber in relation to other structural materials, which has come about 

 through changes in the standards and requirements of the country. 



Although difficult by reason of the upset conditions in the lumber 

 industry, the need for conserving the forests of this country is just 

 as manifest as ever. The public itself is concerned most vitally in 

 the long run. 



RILVICULTURAL AND DENDROLOGICAL STUDIES. 



The future of the pine lands of the South Atlantic and Gulf States 

 received particular attention. A general survey of the field prelimi- 

 nary to a more detailed study brought to notice the rapid growth of 

 slash pine, the early age at which it can be tapped, and the vigor with 

 which it takes possession of the ground formerly occupied by long- 

 leaf pine. The unusual characteristics of the tree, together with the 

 fact that it can be grown naturally over large areas of the cut-over 

 pine lands, indicates the probability that it will be an important factor 

 in the southern forests of the future. Its chief drawback, as com- 

 pared with the longleaf pine, is its greater susceptibility to fire in the 

 early stages of its life. 



