FOREST COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. 21 



ified to judge of the future, comes out with the statement that there 

 need be no fear of exhaustion. Great supplies still remain, while 

 growth is nearly or quite equal to the cut.' Even those who are 

 expected to furnish us bottom facts on these matters are often 

 silent or as ray. A. year and a half ago Mr. Gannett of the United 

 States Geological Survey, putttng together the ascertained acreage 

 -of woodlands in this country with the recorded production of Ger- 

 man forests, reckoned the annual growth of the country over at 

 more than the annual cut ; upon which the chief of the Forestry 

 Bureau of the government immediately protested, stating that the 

 annual growth per acre is set at least ten times too high, while in 

 bis judgment the country under present conditions cannot much 

 longer supply its demands. 



The census of 1880 inquired wiih great thoroughness into the 

 forest resources of the country. The splendid volume on forest 

 trees by Prof. Sargent, the stand of spruce timber in the State of 

 Maine is estimated at five billion feet, while the cut for the census 

 year was put at 301 millions. At that rate, the forests of the 

 State would last sixteen and one-half years, fourteen and one-half 

 of which are already gone. These are official figures, and they 

 show the vast margin of uncertainty there is in our knowledge of 

 the whole subject. The stand of timber even cannot be closely 

 guessed at. How much less is known of the intricate subject of" 

 growth ! 



Returning to current terms and popular estimates we find in our 

 own State at least one rule that is well defined and has wide cur- 

 rency. The rule that spruce land may be cut over once in about 

 twen y years and yield a profitable crop each time is one that is 

 the result of long experience. Let us examine it further to see 

 what it actually tells as to the production of timber. In the first 

 place then it tells nothing as to the age of the trees cut. Those 

 which furnish ihe second crop are not grown up anew since the 

 first cutting. They have simply increased in size sufficiently since 

 that to come above the standard of cut. Then that standard of cut 

 has quite likely been changed. When spruce was first cut with the 

 pine, only the largest and perfect trees were taken. Smaller and 

 smaller trees have since then become valuable and stumpage per- 

 mits have been regulated accordingly. Another limitation also 

 holds. In cutting over a section of land not all the trees are 

 reached. The operator runs his roads through the thickest and 

 largest timber, and leaves untouched large areas between. On the 



