REPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 



45 



THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The]:c liiis of late been expressed so inucli appreliension of the ultimate 

 destruction of our forests, and of a great scarcity of timber at no distant 

 day, that a statistical examination of the subject may i)rove neither 

 unimportant nor uninteresting. Fortunately, data presumed to approxi- 

 mate completeness are furnished by the census of 1870. This enumeration 

 includes only farm-lands, leaving untouched the wild or unoccupied 

 tracts of the old States, and all the lands in the new States still owned 

 by the Government. The wild lauds of the old States would tend to 

 increase the proportion of forest-lands of the entire country, while the 

 public or unsold lands, so generally treeless, would tend to diminish the 

 grand percentage of area in woodland. The percentage deduced from the 

 census-returns, which include only the area in farms, is 39. If the total 

 area of the country is included, the i)ercentage will be diminished to 

 about 25 per cent. In 1866, before any enumeration of the forest-lands 

 was ever made, the following statement concerning the forest-lands in 

 the United States appeared in the monthly report: 



Tlie proportiouate area of forests to the total area of tlie United States must be 

 somewhat more tbau tbat of Russia. Exclusive of the great plains, tlie ■western prai- 

 ries, tlie forestless portions of oak-openings, the "lades of the Alleghanies, the lakes, 

 and the cultivated area of tho United States, the forests are reduced quite as much as 

 is compatible with true imblic 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-planta- 

 tions, and others admitting of judicious thinning or clearing. In the South, which is 

 nearly covered with forests, some diminution of the forest area is admissiljle, while 

 indiscriminate clearing might occasion radical changes in climate and production, more 

 destructive in their character than tho same decrease of forests in higher latitudes. 

 Estimating the forest area in the United States at 33 ])er cent., and our population at 

 SSjOOOjOOO, the number of acres per head would be eighteen, thus exceeding every 

 European country except Norway. 



This hasty jump at an estimate — a leap almost wholly in the dark — 

 proves too high, if the immense treeless areas of the Territories are 

 included, while it is too low for the States exclusive of the Territories. 

 The proportion of forest in our entire area is, therefore, exceeded by that 

 of Eussia, as well as of Norway aud Sweden, and the proportion of 

 Germany may also slightly exceed that of this country. 



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

 different countries of Europe is made on the authority of the German 

 writer, Reutzsch: 



Countries. 



Norway 



Sweden 



Russia 



Germany 



Belgium 



France 



Switzerland . 



Sardinia . 



Naples 



Holland 



Spain ,....., 



Denmark 



Great Britain 

 Portugal 



