JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Vol. XVII FEBRUARY, 1919 No. 2 



PRIVATE FORESTRY* 

 By Henry S. Graves 



The emphasis placed on the pubHc forests in recent years has tended 

 to throw into the background the problems of our private forests. The 

 very magnitude of the National Forest enterprise has created in the 

 minds of many people the impression that the problem of forestry in 

 this country is already on the way to definite solution. In point of fact, 

 only certain initial steps have been taken ; the most difficult problem, 

 that of the protection and right handling of forests privately owned, is 

 still before us. The importance of the private forests to our country 

 is evident, when one considers that 97 per cent of the timber and other 

 wood products used in the United States is obtained from private for- 

 ests. Less than 2 per cent of the sawmills of the country are operating 

 on public forests. Private owners own four-fifths of the standing 

 timber of the country, and it is the best and most accessible timber. 

 Nearly the entire supply of certain important commercial species are 

 in private ownership, such as eastern white pine and spruce, southern 

 pine, cypress, redwood, and most of the hardwoods. 



The experience of the war called sharp attention to the condition of 

 our remaining timber supplies. The bulk of the material for general 

 construction was obtained from a few large centers of original forest, 

 often involving long rail hauls and high cost. Extreme difficulties were 

 encountered in obtaining promptly an adequate sup]:)ly of specialized 

 products, like some of the high-grade hardwoods. If the emergency 

 had come 15 years from now, we would have had very great embar- 

 rassment in obtaining even the lumber needed for general construction 

 except at great sacrifice in time. cost, and crowding of the railroads. 

 Alost of the lumber would have come from the Pacific coast. We may 

 nt)t expect a repetition of such a grave emergency as we have just 

 passed through, but we would be unwise indeed if we failed to recog- 

 nize that the sources of timber supply upon which we have relied are 



* An address delivered before the forestry congress held under the auspices of 

 the Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Massachusetts Forestrj' Association, 

 on February 24, 1919. 



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