CURRENT LITERATURE. 



The Timber Supply of the United States. By R. S. Kellogg. 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Circular 166. 

 Pp. 24. 



This is a brief, yet comprehensive, statement of the knowledge 

 — or, we should rather say, an approximation of the knowledge 

 — we have regarding the extent and rate of decimation of our 

 timber resources. The author himself acknowledges the slim- 

 ness of his basis for these estimates. Most of the "guesses'' as 

 regards extent of original and present forest area agree closely 

 enough with those which the reviewer had ventured some ten 

 years ago as representing a general picture of our status. The 

 data are here worked out in greater detail, and as there are now 

 more and better sources of information at hand, the slight differ- 

 ences may perhaps bring us nearer the truth than the earlier 

 figures. 



The total area of productive forest is now stated as 544,250,000 

 acres; the stumpage as 2,500 billion feet; the cut (in 1907) as 

 40,256 million feet, 77% softwood and 23% hardwood; the 

 total value of forest products as $1,280,000,000, representing over 

 twenty billion cubic feet of forest-grown material. All these 

 figures practically substantiate the picture painted by the reviewer 

 previously. 



The author also attempts to prognosticate future supplies. It 

 would have been interesting to know how he came to the assump- 

 tion that the annual growth "does not exceed 12 cubic feet per 

 acre, a total of less than 7 billion cubic feet." He properly makes 

 the assumption that three conditions exist ; namely, mature 

 forest ; partially cut and burned forest ; and severely 

 culled forest "on which there is not sufficient young 

 growth to produce another crop of much value." He 

 estimates these conditions — of course, also mere guesses — to be 

 represented by 200, 250 and 100 million acres, respectively. But, 

 instead of using these figures in a calculation, he jumps to the 

 above conclusion as to new growth. Of course, to arrive at such, 

 or any conclusion in this regard, some more assumptions are 



