885 



waste unoccupied, in 1S65 and 1S66, are shown by provinces in tlie following 

 table : 



PERCENTAGE OF AREA IN FORESTS. 



The following statement of the proportions of land in forests in tbe different 

 countries of Europe is made on the authority of the German writer Rentzsch : 



Per cent ^'^^''^^ ^'^^ ^^'^^ 



i-er cent. ^^ population. 



Norway 66.0 24.61 



Sweden 60.0 8.55 



Russia 30.90 4 28 



Germany 26.58 0.6638 



Belgium 18.52 0.186 



France 16.79 0.3766 



Switzerland 15.0 0.396 



Sardinia 12.29 0.223 



Naples 9.43 0.138 



Holland 7.10 0.12 



Spain 5.52 0.291 



Denmark 5.50 0.22 



Great Britain 5.0 0.1 



Portugal 4.40 0.182 



The proportionate area of forests to the total area of the United States must 

 be somewhat more than that of Russia. Exclusive of the great plains, the 

 western prairies, the forestless portions of oak openings, the glades of the Alle- 

 ghanies, the lakes, and the cultivated area of the United States, the forests are 

 reduced quite as much as is compatible with true public economy, and safe and 

 healthful climatic conditions. West of the Mississippi, the scarcity of forests 

 depreciates by unnumbered millions the value of that vast area. East of that 

 river, and north of 38°, the forest areas cannot be materially curtailed without 

 serious risk, some portions requiring new forest plantations, and others admitting 

 of judicious thinning or clearing. In the South, which is nearly covered with 

 forests, some diminution of the forest area is admissible, while indiscriminate 

 clearing might occasion radical changes in climate and production more destruc- 

 tive in their character than the same decrease of forests in higher latitudes. 

 Estimating the forest area in the United States at thirty-three per cent., and our 

 population at 35,000,000, the number of acres per head would be eighteen, thus 

 exceeding every European country except Norway. 



