Tin- hue 7V^M/'//o/> i if Won,//, t,i</. to 



83 



2!)5. Fori'4 Area of various Countries of Europe, from late Official 



Statutux. 



2'.Mi. It will be seen from this table, that the general average 

 throughout Kurope i< lictwccii a fourth and a third ; that the h-a-t 

 pniportion is in tlmst- countries when- the i'acilitics for foiviiru iin- 

 ])ortalion arc rtvaUv-t, or wlu-iv the demand i- lea.-!, ami that the 

 countries from whence for a century vast supplies have leen drawn, 

 are by no means so well wooded as to promise indefinite continu- 

 ance or inexhaustible supply. The relative abundance in Ku--ia is 

 found only iu the northern part, and nowhere can a contrast be- 

 tween plentv and want be more strongly shown. Moreover, it 

 should be reinembured that in ca.-e of m-cd, the iroverniuent mi^ht 

 easily interrupt the exportation, if it became necessary to protect 

 its own interest, or to make other countries feel their dependence 

 upon it for supplies. 



L )( .)7. Il i.; obvious that foreign demands must greatly influence 

 the prices of a commodity in countries from whence it is supplied, 

 without reference to causes that might operate within them; and 

 since our country has furnished for a long period a large and con- 

 stantly increasing amount of timber and lumber to foreign coun- 

 tries, these questions become with us matters of direct practical in- 

 terest. It is proper, therefore, that we should take a general glance 

 at the distribution and extent of the native timber resources of the 



*This appears to be an over-statement. From statistics published in 1880, it is shown 

 that there were then 1,4:!5,4:U acres of woodland in Knxland, 102,i:>5 iu Ireland, and 

 811.703 in Scotland. The percentages of total area were 4. 4. 3.4 and 1.6 respect- 

 ively. 



