A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 289 



The total timber consumption (not including firewood) of the seven 

 importing countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, 

 Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland) increased by 1.7 percent 

 between 1913 and 1928-29, or somewhat more slowly than the pop- 

 ulation. Consumption of firewood in these countries decreased by 

 5.7 percent in the same interval. For the three Scandinavian coun- 

 tries (Norway, Sweden, and Finland) timber consumption apparently 

 increased 20.8 percent and that of firewood decreased 13.8 percent. 

 Part of the change may have been due to the better statistics for 

 Finland in 1928-29. For the three central countries (Poland, Czecho- 

 slovakia, and Austria) timber consumption also increased by 20.4 

 percent, and firewood consumption increased by 0.7 percent. Al- 

 though the consumption was perhaps a little above what has been 

 considered normal for these countries, it is expected to increase still 

 more during the next few years. In the Baltic countries (Latvia, 

 Estonia, and Li'thuania) timber consumption decreased by 15.1 per- 

 cent and firewood by 4.7 percent. ^ The population also decreased hi 

 these countries, and consumption in Lithuania, at least, was abnor- 

 mally low in 1928-29 because of upset economic conditions. 



The 16 countries consumed practically the same total quantity of 

 timber and firewood in the 2 years, or approximately 8,640 million 

 cubic feet. The per capita consumption decreased from 36.4 to 35.3 

 cubic feet. This decrease was due to a lower consumption of firewood. 

 Total firewood used decreased from 3,970 million to 3,670 million cubic 

 feet, and the per capita consumption from 16.6 to 14.8 cubic feet. 

 Per capita consumption of timber other than firewood increased from 

 19.8 to 20.5 cubic feet. 



TRENDS IN WORLD TRADE 



Statistics of world trade afford another measure of the demand for 

 wood. In attempting to determine the trend in world trade, it is 

 necessary to distinguish four periods: (1) The pre-war period; (2) 

 the war period; (3) the postwar period between 1919 and 1929; and 

 (4) the period of economic depression since 1929. It is evident that 

 the war period and the period of depression, being abnormal, do not 

 lend themselves to a determination of trends. To a considerable 

 extent this is also true of the reconstruction period from 1919 to 1929. 



PRE-WAR PERIOD 



Reliable statistics of world trade in wood are available only since 

 about 1880. Even the figures for the period from 1880 to 1913 show 

 very convincingly the growing importance of wood in world trade 

 prior to the World War. 



The aggregate export of wood, excluding pulpwood and cellulose, 

 from the seven most important timber-producing countries more than 

 doubled during the period between 1880 and 1913, showing by 5-year 

 periods an uninterrupted growth (table 5). Only one of these coun- 

 tries (Norway) exported less timber at the end of the period than at 

 the beginning. The exports of pulpwood and cellulose increased even 

 more rapidly. 



