2 FOREST PRODUCTS 



Bark for tanning, medicines, mattings, etc. 

 Resinous products, such as turpentine, rosin, tar, pitch, etc. 

 Chemical products, such as wood alcohol, pyroligneous acid, char- 

 coal, creosote, etc. 



Seeds, oak and beech mast, walnuts, chestnuts, etc. 

 Pasture, especially in the West. 

 Game and fish (of great importance). 

 Recreation and health, summer pleasure grounds, etc. 

 Fruits and berries (of minor importance) . 

 Moderation of temperatures and climate. 

 Regulation of the water flow, prevention of erosion, etc. 



ORIGINAL FORESTS 



Originally this country was endowed with greater and more varied 

 forests than those of any other nation except Russia. The eastern forests 

 stretched unbroken from the Atlantic Ocean to the treeless prairies of 

 the Middle West. The Rockies and Pacific slope were densely forested 

 except for desert plateaus and interior valleys and high mountain tops. 



The original area of forest in the United States has been estimated 

 at 850,000,000 acres. The present area is approximately 545,000,000 

 acres. The original stand was estimated at 5,200,000,000,000 bd. ft. 

 The present stand is estimated to be about 2,535,000,000,000 bd. ft. 



HISTORY OF LUMBER CUT 



In accordance with the best available historical reports, the first saw- 

 mill erected in this country is generally attributed to Berwick, Maine, 

 where it was erected in the year 1631. Various other mills have been 

 reported as being erected in the old Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 

 1607 and another in the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts in 1630, but 

 these records are not as well substantiated as those regarding the saw- 

 mill at Berwick. 



From the earliest days of the lumber industry in this country, Maine 

 held first place in lumber production and developed a considerable trade 

 with the West Indies and even with Europe in lumber, timbers and spars, 

 etc. With the rapid development in population, and its extension west- 

 ward, the lumber industry was moved in the same way. From Maine, 

 the center of the lumber industry gradually moved to New York, which 

 was the center of the country's lumber production in 1850. By 1860, 

 the center of production had shifted to Pennsylvania. For several 

 decades following 1870, and, in fact, up to 1904, the center of lumber pro- 

 duction was in the Lake states, Michigan holding first place for over 



