14 FORESTRY 



of profit and expenditure, forest resources, area and distribu- 

 tion of forest lands, imports and exports, and means of convey- 

 ance of timber. Subjects for statistical inquiry may, indeed, 

 be multiplied indefinitely ; at present, however, the records 

 are scanty enough even upon the subject of forest area. 



Some of the European states provide fairly reliable data, 

 but the figures of others (Russia, Turkey, Sweden, and 

 Norway) leave much to be desired. For lands outside of 

 Europe the data are scarcely trustworthy. 



Forest Area of the World 



It is improbable that the world's forest area and available 

 timber supply have been under-estimated. It is, indeed, more 

 likely that the reverse is the case. Much land designated 

 " forest " has but a poor scrub growth upon it portions are 

 even desert. A very extensive area in the United States, 

 for instance, is not productive, though described in the official 

 returns as "wooded area." Great stretches of forest in 

 Sweden, Canada, Australia, and other lands also come under 

 this category. They are forest lands, but unless prices 

 rise very considerably they will prove altogether unre- 

 munerative for exploitation, the material being much too re- 

 motely or unfavourably situated to warrant its extraction. 

 Yearly it is becoming more difficult to reach the products 

 of the natural forests. All the most serviceable timber is 

 taken first from the easily accessible areas, but this supply 

 becoming exhausted, lumbermen are being forced to fetch 

 the timber from an ever-increasing distance. The forest area 

 alone does not allow one to judge of a country's capabilities 

 for the supply of timber. The following tables are therefore 

 submitted with the qualification that they give only an idea 

 of the relative position of the countries specified. 



