DIVISION OF FOEESTRY. 185 



Another report, compiled iu a similar way, presented an exhibit of the 

 extent to which the native forests of the countrj^ have been cleared off 

 and for what purposes, the damage occasioned by forest fires, and other 

 facts relating to the subject. By means of a graphic chart, the steady 

 and rapid destruction of the forests in one State, in regard to which we 

 have special official information, was shown for a period of nearly thirty 

 years. As no causes of forest destruction have been in operation ic 

 this State which have not been at work in other and neighboring States, 

 the chart was made with the presumption that it would fairly represent 

 the forest condition of a considerable region respecting which we cau- 

 not procure the same official evidence that is furnished iu the case of 

 the particular State referred to. 



CONSUMPTION OF WOOD FOR RAILROAD TIES. 



A very complete and exhaustive report was made also in regard to 

 the consumption of the forests for the purpose of furnishing ties for 

 the 150,000 miles of railroad existing in 1884. The report shows the 

 amount and kinds of wood used by the several roads from which infor- 

 mation could be obtained, comprising about 63 per cent, of all. The 

 sources from which the ties were procured are also specified, the season 

 of the year in which they were cut, and their ascertained durability. 

 From the information obtained, it appears that to furnish the requisite 

 ties has required the available timber growing on an area equal to that 

 of the States of Ehode Island and Connecticut, and estimating that 

 ties need to be rejilaced by new ones once in seyen years on the aver- 

 age, there would be required annually for this iDurpose the available 

 timber growing on 565,714 acres. Allowing again that a growth of 

 thirty years is necessary to produce trees of proper dimensions for ties, 

 it would require 16,971,420 acres of woodland to be held as a kind of 

 railroad reserve to supi3ly the annual demands of the existing roads, to 

 say nothing of the demands of new ones. This is between 3 and 4 per 

 cent, of the woodland of the United States, exclusive of Alaska. 



MAPLE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Another comidete and valuable report contained in the volume referred 

 to was one on the sugar product of the maple tree. From this it will be 

 seen that, reducing the maple sirup made to its equivalent of sugar, the 

 total product of sugar from the maple for the census year was 50,944,445 

 pounds, or a little more than one-twelfth of the entire sugar product of 

 the country, including that from both sorghum and the sugar-cane. Of 

 the granulated sugar made in the country, that from the maple forms 17 

 per cent. 



This is an important showing. The sugar maple is one of the most 

 widely distributed of our native trees, and is especially at home through- 

 out a large part of the northern portion of the country, abounding where 

 the sorghum will not ripen. The sugar from the maple is identical in 

 composition with that from the cane. It can be produced at compara- 

 tively little expense. Experience seems to show that the sap taken 

 from the trees during the brief sugar-making season does not percepti- 

 bly affect the vitality of the trees or lessen their ultimate value for luel 

 or timber, for which purposes the maple ranks very high. The prodnc- 

 tion of sugar takes place, also, at a comparatively leisure season of the 

 year, when hardly any other business is claiming attention. The fuel 

 necessary for the redaction of the sap to sugar is scarcely, if at all, more 



