FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 85 



quarter cord per acre. All these tigures refer to the quantity 

 of spool stock and not to the total amount of solid wood per 

 acre, which would probably overrun these ligures by about 20 

 \)cv cent, and, therefore, give a considerably larger stand. Most 

 of the birch stands, however, are now so remote from the mar- 

 ket and the difficulties of transportation are so great that it is 

 impracticable to utilize this additional 20 per cent, which, if 

 more accessible, would be valuable for fuel. 



The Paper Birch Supplv. 



Xo attempt has ever been made to secure an accurate esti- 

 mate of the total amount of paper birch in the Northeast. The 

 l)irch is so widely and irregularl}- scattered over a large area 

 that this would be a very difficult undertaking. At the same 

 time, it is possible to estimate roughly the present supply, how 

 long it will last, and what will be tlie source of future supplies. 

 In the three divisions shown on the ma]^ ( lig. i), as already 

 explained, division i is assumed to contain 1 cord per acre of 

 merchantable material; division 2, one-half cord per acre; and 

 division 3, one-quarter cord per acre. The application of aver- 

 age figures to so large an area is not wholly satisfactory, but it 

 is the best method that can be used under the circumstances, 

 and the resulting estimate is at least conservative. If these 

 average figures are multiplied by the total area of each division 

 the result gives a total stand of approximatel)- 4,000,000 cords 

 of merchantable paper birch. 



Even with an assumed annual consumption of 100,000 cords, 

 as against the present actual average of 80.000 cords, there is 

 now standing a sufficient supply of birch to last for forty years. 

 This, of course, does not take into consideration the increase 

 through growth of existing stands, or through young growth 

 which will mature during that period. On the other hand, 

 much of the supply is not at present accessible, and a consider- 

 able part of it is also deteriorating because of old age. Taking 

 everything into consideration, however, it is certain that users 

 of paper l)irch will not feel the pinch of a shortage so early as 

 will tile users of many others of our important trees. 



