COMMENTS ON KIRKLAND'^S CRITICISM 



By Austin Cary 



Logging Engineer, forest Service 



Professor Kirkland, in his comment on my paper, as always when 

 he writes, has struck off some very attractive ideas. One is un- 

 avoidably stimulated, and generally sympathizes even when he cannot 

 agree. 



The first counter consideration urged, one that Kirkland also can 

 take shelter under, is that in developing a big subject with wide bear- 

 ings one is obliged to make good his main and characteristic points 

 by emphasis and concentration. This in the interest of brevity has to 

 be done oftentimes at the expense of balance in regard to what are for 

 the time being side issues. Thus in regard to the place of forest schools 

 and technically trained foresters in the present movement. The writer 

 did not express views on this point, and does not admit inferences 

 drawn by others. 



Nor am I fairly open to the imputation of thinking that because 

 timber ownership today is a financial burden in some forest regions the 

 country is shown by that fact to have more timber than it will require. 

 This opinion is expressly disclaimed late in my paper. It is the system 

 of timber ownership that is at fault here, not Nature. 



Like Kirkland, I do not wish to thresh over old straw or start con- 

 troversy about details, but I do feel that his computation of growing 

 stock necessary to produce our present annual cut of forest products 

 should be questioned as somewhat similar presentations have been 

 questioned before. Only suggestions will be made here, and those as 

 far as the basic data are concerned, are from memory. 



1. Of the 100 billion of annual products of the forest, about 40 

 are saw lumber; the balance minor products, of which firewood con- 

 stitutes a large portion. 



2. Available estimates of timber stand are of saw timber only. 



3. In this connection the questions arise: (a) How much of the 

 60 billion feet of minor products comes out of the saw timber as a 

 by-product? (&) How much of the same 60 billions is obtained from 

 stands that never were figured in the estimated resource? (c) What 

 are the volume, availability, and producing capacity of those unesti- 

 mated resources? 



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