448 JOUKNAL OF FORKSTRV 



exactly in accordance with the facts ; consequently they have been 

 smoothed a little, though keeping the points determined for 1880 and 

 1910 (the years of the best censuses) fixed. 



This diagram shows at a glance, better than a table could, the increase 

 of forest land in all six states since 1880 and in most of them since 

 1850. The results for ^910 agree pretty well with those of Kellogg 

 (1909) and Hawley and Hawes (1912), which were probably arrived 

 at in a somewhat different manner. (The same method in some of the 

 southeastern states, too, has given results quite in harmony with inde- 

 pendent estimates.) It is interesting to note that the woods for which 

 Maine has long been famous still cover about three-fourths of the 

 state ; that apparently no New England state is less than 40 per cent 

 wooded, and that Connecticut seems to have more forest now than it 

 had in 1790. 



The next' census, now about two years off, should show whether or 

 not the New England forests are still spreading. An estimate of their 

 percentage composition by species should be made at about the same 

 time, and repeated every ten years or so, to show what trees are becom- 

 ing relatively more abundant, and I'ice vcrsa.^ This is a matter that 

 has not hitherto been considered as within the scope of a census, but it 

 should present no special difficulty to any one who knows the different 

 trees at sight. One person even in a few weeks of travel by rail and 

 on foot should be able to get results accurate enough to show beyond a 

 doubt what is the most abundant tree in a given state, county, or nat- 

 ural region,^ and what species are more abundant in a given area than 

 in an adjoining one — information that is almost wholly lacking at pres- 

 ent.^ And any desired degree of exactness could be attained by taking 

 time enough. The quantitative data thus gathered would also assist 

 materially in mapping the ranges of the species and determining their 

 soil preferences — matters that we do not yet know as much about as 

 we should. Where botanists are as numerous and transportation facili- 

 ties as good as in New England, it ought to be possible to make a very 

 complete forest census even before the next population census. 



* A remark in Kellogg's circular on the timber supply, previously referred to, 

 is worth quoting in this connection. On page 3 he says : "Great as is the need 

 for it, there has never been a timber census of the United States; nor, with 

 one or two exceptions, any close estimate of the forest resources of any indi- 

 vidual State. Such a census must eventually be taken to furnish the basis for 

 permanent forest conservation." Since that was published some progress has 

 been made, particularly in Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, Alabama, and Florida. 



' Probably the best existing map of the natural regions of New England is 

 that in Hawley and Hawes' Forestry in New England (1912) ; but very likely 

 it could be improved a little by taking into consideration some additional factors, 

 such as soil. 



* See Torreya, vol. 17, pp. 1-2; Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, vol. 44, pp. 39-40, iQi/- 



