THE FOREST RESOURCES OF TIIK WORLD. 



71 



of saw-log timber in the second cut will certainly be less than half 

 of the total amount of wood produced annually, because the forests 

 under the present system of cutting do not improve, but deteriorate 

 in quality. This holds true not only of the United States, but of 

 Canada, Austria, and Norway, while the reverse is true of countries 

 like Germany and France, where the percentage of saw-log timber in 

 gradually increasing through proper methods of management. 



The cut per acre in such countries as Canada and the United 

 States does not represent the actual cut per acre, because these 

 figures do not always refer to the actual productive forest area, but 

 include a great deal of unproductive lands, such as swamps, burns, 

 etc. If the figures referred only to the productive-forest area, if that 

 could be known, the cut per acre would be much higher. 



On the whole, the figures of annual cut and growth show a sad 

 state of affairs. ^Countries which with proper care for their forest 

 resources could continue to be a source of timber supply to many 

 other countries deficient in wood are, with few exceptions, over- 

 catting their forests and rapidly deteriorating them. /And those 

 few countries with large forests which do not overcut the resources 

 are deterred only through want of capital or lack of natural means 

 of transportation, such as rivers; and still further, some other coun- 

 tries, though they have not enough forests to supply their own 

 needs, continue to deplete what little they possess. 

 ^Trom the figures of annual growth and cut in the United States 

 it would appear that the cut is more than three times the growth. 

 In point or fact, however, the depletion of our forests goes on much 

 more rapidly, owing to loss by fire on account of the lack of protec- 

 tien given the forests. , 



ANNUAL CONSUMPTION. 



The consumption of wood is different in various countries, being 

 dependent on the industrial development, on the presence of coal for 

 fuel, and of substitutes for structural timber. In Table 25 are 

 brought together the total annual consumption and the consumption 

 per capita in the various countries of the world. 



TABLE 25. Annual and per capita consumption of wood, in cubic feet, of various countries. 



