32 



THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE WORLD. 



THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



FOREST AREA. 



The forests of the United Kingdom occupy but a small proportion 

 of the total land area. The area of woodlands is estimated at 

 3,030,000 acres, or 4 per cent of the total land area. Table 9 gives 

 the proportion of land used for different purposes: 



TABLE 9. Utilization of land in the United Kingdom. 



The area under forest per capita is one-tenth of an acre. The area 

 of woodland is smaller than that of any other European country 

 except Denmark. Crown forests comprise only some 67,000 acres, or 

 2J per cent, which is smaller than in any other European state. 

 There are no communal forests. Of the total forest area, 97} per 

 cent, or 2,963,000 acres, is in the hands of large private owners. 



ANNUAL CUT, CONSUMPTION, AND GROWTH. 



The total cut in the United Kingdom for certain periods amounted 

 to: 1855-59, 125,703,600 cubic feet; 1875-79, 131,353,200 cubic feet; 

 and 1895-99, 138,062,100 cubic feet. 



Thus the average cut per acre may be accepted as equal to 45.5 

 cubic feet per year. Assuming that in England only the annual incre- 

 ment is cut, the annual growth would be equal to the total cut. Mul- 

 hull estimated that the annual growth per acre is equal to 60 cubic 

 feet, in which case the total annual growth would be 181,800,000 cubic 

 feet. The United Kingdom not only uses all that is cut, but is im- 

 pelled to import nearly five times that amount. 



The total annual consumption and the per capita consumption for 

 a period of years are given in the following table : 



Annual and per capita consumption, in cubic feet, for certain periods. 



Thus the per capita consumption is 14 cubic feet. Half of the total 

 annual cut is firewood; therefore the consumption of timber is 602,- 

 212,000, and of firewood is 69,031,000 cubic feet; or the per capita 

 consumption of timber is 12.8 cubic feet, and of fuel is 1.2 cubic feet. 



a Bench te iiber Handlung und Industrie 1900, 598. 



