53 



PER CK.NT OF TOTAL WOOD USED WHICH IS GROWN IX THE STATE 



Per cent Per cent 



Lumber 2.379 Veneers 62.120 



Other products . . . 65.099 Piling 36.700 



Fuel wood 100.000 Cooperage 3.274 



Mine timber 60.683 Poles* 



Posts 52.068 Shingles .000 



Cross-ties 15.169 



Average exclusive of fuel wood and lumber. . . 32.75 



Average exclusive of fuel wood only 8.169 



Wood of all kinds 20.626 



• Rural telephone companies use mostly white oak poles, 

 obtained locally for renewals, but it has been impossible to secure 

 any data from these companies on the total number used in 

 the state. 



FUTURE SUPPLIES OF WOOD 



What can the state do to insttre to her major industries the continu- 

 ance of wood supplies ? Shall land now devoted to agricitlture be planted 

 to trees to fill this gap between production and consumption so that Illi- 

 nois shall become self-supporting as to its timber needs? As shown 

 later, the average annual crop of wood per acre which can be grown on 

 Illinois land varies from IG to ]G0 cubic feet. At an average production 

 of 87 cubic feet per acre annually which cotild only be attained by in- 

 tensive forestry practice it would require (;.445,0.5T acres or 17.9fi7 per 

 cent of. the state's surface, to grow this amount. .All but 23.9 per cent 

 of the state is under actual cultivation for crops and this percentage in- 

 cludes cities, mines, and all waste and forest land and unimproved pas- 

 tures. The maximum area which could ultimately be used for forest 

 production is probably not over 5 million acres. It is evident, therefore, 

 that not even by the devotion of every acre of this land lo the most in- 

 tensive forest cultivation could the industries now dependent on wood 

 continue to exist without relying as at present on importations from out- 

 side the state in order to maintain their present scale of operations, irre- 

 spective of future increase .in population or industry. Failure to ob- 

 tain these enormous quantities of wood by importation supplemented by 

 growth of local timber will ultimately mean a basic change in industry 

 and perhaps very serious consequences in standards of living and even 

 in the growth and distribution of population. It is out of the question 

 for this state or its citizens to deliberately seek to curtail the production 

 of farm crops, live stock and horticultural products for the sake of grow- 

 ing forests on soils better adapted for these higher uses. Ihe policy in- 

 dicated is to develop forest [jtoduction on soils unprofitable for food 

 crops wherever such soils are found so that the state may produce as 



