14 



INTRODUCTION 



3. EUROPEAN METHODS CHANGED TO FIT AMERICAN 

 CONDITIONS 



Forestry has been successfully practiced in many of the European 

 countries for several centuries. Ideal conditions for profitable and 

 successful forestry prevail in central and western Europe. The dense 

 population, scarcity of areas available for timber growth, and paucity 



of available forest 

 products resulting in 

 relatively high prices 

 for them constitute 

 ideal conditions. In 

 spite of the inten- 

 sive development of 

 forestry, many of 

 these countries such 

 as Germany, France, 

 and Belgium, are ex- 

 tensive importers of 

 lumber and other 

 forest materials. 

 Although these prod- 

 ucts are generally 

 expensive and every 

 effort is made to re- 

 place wood by the 

 substitution of other 

 materials, there is 

 a very extensive de- 

 mand for wood. 

 Even under ideal 

 conditions, modern 

 civilization cannot 

 satisfactorily get 



along without wood for shelter or the four thousand distinct and 

 separate uses for which wood has been demonstrated as the best avail- 

 able material. The per capita consumption of forest products is very 

 much lower in Europe than in this country. It is estimated that 

 probably 80 to 94% of all wood grown in Europe outside of Russia, 

 Finland, and Sweden is utilized, whereas in this country only 34% 

 of the trees felled in our forests is ultimately utilized in one form or 

 another. 



FIG. 10. A good stand of nearly mature Norway 

 spruce in Saxony, Germany. There is a strong tend- 

 ency toward the logging of smaller sized trees through- 

 out the East and South in the United States. Forests 

 handled under a systematic plan of management as in 

 Europe mean the production of trees that are small, 

 symmetrical and clean of limbs. Our forests gener- 

 ally grow more rapidly than in Europe. When our 

 virgin forests are cut, logging practices will be simpli- 

 fied and the tendency toward truck and tractor trans- 

 portation will be greatly increased. This stand con- 

 tains about 10,000 board feet per acre and has been 

 thinned several times to increase the rate of growth. 

 Photo by the author. 



