THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE WORLD. 



THE SITUATION. 



Under present economic conditions, there is scarcely a civilized 

 country Which economically is entirely independent of all other coun- 

 tries. The life of all nations is now closely interwoven; and even 

 countries like the United States or Russia, which contain within 

 their borders practically all natural resources necessary to make them 

 independent in every respect, are constantly interchanging their 

 products with the rest of the world. 



It is therefore impossible to form a clear idea of the possibilities 

 of a country and its future development without taking into account 

 the natural resources and the general economic conditions of other 

 countries with which it comes in contact. Highly developed means 

 of transportation make it often more profitable to obtain certain 

 products from a country which for some reason is best able to pro- 

 duce them than to manufacture them at home, even though it is 

 possible to do so. 



A country deprived of certain natural resources may still be pros- 

 perous and progressive, because it is able to obtain all that it needs 

 from other countries which have a surplus of the products, which it 

 lacks. The British Isles are the most striking example of this. 

 With comparatively limited natural resources and high consump- 

 tion of timber, grain, and other raw material, England has highly 

 developed industries which enable her to exchange her finished 

 products for the raw materials she needs. This in a general way 

 holds good for forest resources, but with this difference: Forests not 

 only produce timber, but play an important part in the life of every 

 nation by exercising an influence on the water supplies ; on agricul- 

 ture, and the general health of the people. For this reason only a 

 few countries with an insular climate, as England and Holland, may 

 with impunity reduce their forest areas beyond a certain safety limit. 

 Ordinarily a country with a forest area of 20 per cent or less shows 

 to a marked degree bad climatic conditions, with prolonged droughts, 

 frosts, and alternating floods and low water. Portugal with a forest 

 area of only 5 per cent of the total land area, Spain with 13 per 

 cent, Greece with 13 per cent, Turkey with 20 per .cent, Italy with 

 14 per cent, are good examples of this. 



In considering the forest resources of the United States it seems 

 necessary, therefore, to take into account also the forest resources 

 of all other countries in order to determine the extent to which the 

 United States can depend, in case of exhaustion of its own timber, 

 upon the resources of other countries, or to determine the part which 

 it plays and will play in supplying the needs of other countries in 

 forest products. 



There is still another reason why it is important in considering the 

 forest resources of the United States to study also the forests and 

 economic conditions of other countries. There is a certain inter- 

 relationship between the extent and condition of the natural resources 



