188 BEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



la the United States, exclusive of Alaska, the District of Columbia, 

 and the Indian Territory, there are 38 States and 8 Territories, making- 

 a total of 40. The superlSicial area of these 4G is 2,900,107 square miles, 

 or 1,850,070,400 acres. 



TJie total forest area is 480,280,000 acres, or 26.4 per cent, of the su- 

 perficial area. 



The group of States and Territories lying west of the ninety-fifth me- 

 iidian, viz, Arizona, California, Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Kansas, Mon- 

 i.ana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washing- 

 ton, and Wyoming, have an area of 1,900,159 square miles, or 1,210,101,000 

 acres, which is 05.5 per cent, of the whole area of the United States, 

 with the exceptions above noted. 



The area of forest in this group, exclusive of the Indian Territory, is 

 only 184,800,000 acres, or 15.2 per cent, of the superficial area. 



If California, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, which con- 

 tain the largest ijroportion of woodland, are left out of the calculation, 

 the superficial area of the remaining States and Territories of the group 

 would be 751,776,000 acres, being 40.5 per cent, of the United States, 

 only 59,800,000 acres, or 8.1 per cent, of which is in forest. 



The group of States, 30 in number, lying east of the ninety-fifth me- 

 ridian, have an area of 1,000,000 square miles, or 040,000,000 acres, being 

 34.5 per cent, of the whole area ; 304,280,000 acres, or 47.5 per cent, of 

 which is in forest. 



The Eastern and Northern States forming a part of this group, viz, 

 Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, Con- 

 necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 

 West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Iowa, and Missouri, have an area of 313,547,200 acres j 139,180,000 acres, 

 or 44.4 per cent, of which is in forest. 



The Southern States, forming a part of the group east of the ninety- 

 fifth meridian, viz, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisi- 

 ana, have an area of 320,421,000 acres ; 105,100,000 acres, or 60.6 per 

 cent, of which is in forest. 



It will be of interest to notice that while the section or group of States 

 west of the ninety-fifth meridian contain 65.5 per cent, of the whole su- 

 perficial area, it contains but 37.8 per cent, of the forest area of the 

 country ; and the group east of the ninety-fifth meridian, while it con- 

 tains but 34.5 per cent, of the whole superficial area, contains only 62.2 

 per cent, of the area of the forest. 



The group of 19 Eastern and Northern States contains 16.9 per cent, 

 of the total superficial area and 28.4 per cent, of the forest. 



The group of 11 Southern States contains 17.0 iDer cent, of total supcr- 

 licial area and 33.8 per cent, of the whole forest area of the United 

 .-tates. 



The Western group contains 889,680,000 acres superficial area, or 272.G 

 per cent, more than the Southern group, and only 19,700,000 acres, or 4 

 [>i'r cent, more of forest area. 



COST OF FENCES. 



The cost of building and repairing fences in the United States, for 1S79, 

 according to the reports of the last census, amounted to $77,702,473. 

 East of the ninety-fifth meridian there were 239,147,208 acres of land 

 embraced in farms. The cost of building and repairing the fencp.s on 



