THE FOREST RESOURCES OP THE WORLD. 



43 



In the following table states with over 250,000 acres of woodland 

 are arranged according to the production of derbholz: 



Distribution of derbholz by states. 



ANNUAL GROWTH AND PRESENT STAND. 



Since the principle underlying the management of practically all 

 the forests is to cut merely the annual increment and to leave intact 

 the forest capital, it may be safely assumed that the annual cut is 

 equal to the annual growth. In some cases the annual cut has been 

 made smaller than the annual increment, in order to increase the 

 forest capital so as to produce larger annual increments in the future. 



The total present stand is given in* the " Worterbuch der Volkswirt- 

 shaft" (Prof. D. L. Elster, Jena, Achte Lieferung, 1899), at a forest 

 rotation of eighty to one hundred years, as from 70,000,000,000, to 

 105,000,000,000 cubic feet. Professor Elster assumes an annual 

 growth of 50 cubic feet per acre, which corresponds very closely 

 with the figure given above, 48.7 cubic feet. The average rotation 

 may be taken as ninety years, but even this is too long, since there 

 are many broadleaf forests which do not demand such long rota- 

 tions. At an annual growth of 50 cubic feet and a rotation of 

 ninety years, the forests will have a stand of about 79,000,000,000 

 cubic feet a . At an average price even as low as 7 cents per cubic 

 foot the German forests represent a capital of $5,530,000,000, not 

 counting the value of the land. 



ANNUAL CONSUMPTION. 



In spite of the fact that the German Empire succeeds in producing 

 the largest amount of wood per acre, it is unable to supply its own 

 needs for saw timber. Since 1863 the imports have exceeded the 

 exports and the difference between them has been growing steadily. 

 In 1 904 this excess in saw-log timber (logs, sawed timber, and hewn 

 timber) amounted to 4,726,000 tons, or 357,690,300 cubic feet (1 

 ton being equal to about 75 cubic feet of round timber). This, 

 together with the 1,706,223,000 cubic feet cut in Germany itself, 

 gives a total home consumption of 2,063,913,300 cubic feet of wood 

 of all kinds, or 36.6 cubic feet per capita. The consumption of saw- 

 log timber alone is 1,064,322,000 cubic feet, or 18.8 cubic feet per 

 inhabitant. The consumption of fuel alone is 999,800 cubic feet, or 

 17.8 cubic feet per capita. 



a Stand = annual increment X area X 



rotation 



