38 



THE FOREST RESOURCES OP THE WORLD. 



The Government has determined the area that may be converted 

 into forests. This potential forest area has been computed at 1,583,000 

 acres, or 4J per cent of the present total forest. Of this, 1,362,500 

 acres are in Prussia alone, which would increase the present forest 

 area by 6.6 per cent. Prussia is doing a great deal in bringing under 

 forest much of its waste land. Thus from 1867 to 1892, 336,582 

 acres of waste land were bought at $16 per acre to plant to forest, and 

 from 1883 to 1902, 182,782 acres were brought under forest, or an 

 average of 9,140 acres per year. On October 1, 1903, the Prussian 

 forest administration possessed 91,202 acres of waste land, which it 

 intended to plant with trees. 



COMPOSITION. 



Of the forests, 32J per cent are covered with hard woods and 67J 

 per cent with conifers. The constant tendency is to increase the 

 latter at the expense of the former. 



The following figures show the progress made in this direction: 



Thus in 1883 the hard woods occupied 34 J per cent instead of 

 per cent, and the conifers 65 per cent instead of the present 67 J per 

 cent. The remainder of the forest, comprising 2,699,997 acres, is a 

 mixed composition of hard wood and conifers. In Table 16 are given 

 detailed figures of the composition of the forest and the areas under 

 different methods of management. 



TABLE 16. Percentage of forest composition, by states, in Germany. 



Hard woods. 



