58 FORESTS AND MANKIND 



Forest statistics are subject to error and any prophecies based 

 upon them must be based on uncertainties. But it is probable 

 that today we have in the world more than enough forests to 

 supply, under proper management, the world's wood needs. 

 Theoretically there is no deficiency. But practically, forestry 

 must concern itself, not with the amount of existing forests, 

 but with the amount and kind of forests available for current 

 practical use. Here we find the great centers of civilization very 

 deficient indeed. So from this standpoint the problem of for- 

 estry begins to assume the aspect of seeking some means for 

 perpetuating and increasing the growth and quality of those 

 forests most available and most useful to man. 



