282 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the destruction of forests in the age of coal and iron should have 

 become much less than in the eighteenth century. 



It is true that this replacement of wood with coal at times led to a 

 restricted use of wood and caused difficulties in finding a market for 

 it. Paris may serve as an illustration of the changes that took place 

 in the use of fuel, since in France even today firewood is extensively 

 used in heating residences. In 1815 the 670,000 inhabitants of 

 Paris consumed almost 42.5 million cubic feet of firewood, or around 

 63 cubic feet per inhabitant. By 1865 the population had increased 

 to 1,668,000 but the consumption of firewood was only 26.7 million 

 cubic feet, or 16 cubic feet per inhabitant. In 1900 the consumption 

 of firewood amounted to 19.5 million cubic feet, or a little over 7 cubic 

 feet per inhabitant. The per capita consumption of charcoal 

 decreased from 7.8 bushels in 1856 to 3.6 bushels in 1896 and 2.8 bush- 

 els in 1900. The consumption of coal, on the other hand, was many 

 times larger at the end of the century than at the beginning. 



The loss to forest owners resulting from this drop in the use of wood 

 was further aggravated by the reduction in the consumption of fuel 

 wood by metallurgical plants. A similar situation developed in 

 many other centers of wood consumption in Europe. Wood prices 

 fell so low and the maintenance of forests became so unprofitable 

 that in many instances attempts were made to clear the forests and 

 turn them into pastures. 



All signs apparently pointed to a permanent decrease in the use of 

 wood. But this was not to be. The new era of capitalism was 

 characterized by a period of industrial expansion which gradually 

 extended to a large part of the world, continued throughout the 

 nineteenth century, and reached its fullest development in the period 

 just before the World War. Agriculture, freed from the bonds of the 

 feudal system and stimulated by the industrial expansion, also entered 

 upon a new phase of development in western Europe. The industrial 

 expansion was accompanied by building of railroads and other means 

 of transportation, development of mines, construction of new factories 

 and houses, and a general rise in the standard of living of the masses. 

 Chemistry opened new fields of use for cellulose, for which wood was 

 the best source. Wider education of the masses brought greater use 

 of paper for books and newspapers. Increased trade required boxes 

 and containers of various sorts. With the improvement of the lot of 

 the industrial worker and the peasant, there came a demand for better 

 houses, more furniture, and wooden articles for household use. 



As a result of this wave of industrial expansion, wood regained its 

 prominent place in the economic life of the people, although it 

 was used in different forms than before. The industrial revolu- 

 tion of the nineteenth century, which at first threatened to 

 destroy the markets for wood, in the end stimulated the use of wood 

 in the most unexpected industrial enterprises and thus widened its 

 markets. This demand was so great that some of the industrial 

 countries were unable to meet it from their own timber supplies. 

 They were forced to tap the resources of other countries which pos- 

 sessed a surplus of forest wealth. This brought about a world trade 

 in timber of a magnitude not dreamed of in the period before the 

 industrial revolution. 



