292 A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



before the war. Swedish lumber exports, which in 1929 reached a 

 high level of 195 million cubic feet, shrank to 120 million in 1931, also 

 below the 1913 figure. Polish exports fell from 140 million cubic feet 

 in 1927 to 70 million in 1931. With the exception of Kussia, the prin- 

 cipal other exporting countries show a similar downward tendency. 



The power of consumption decreased more rapidly than the supplies 

 available. This led to a collapse of prices, which in many instances 

 are now below the pre-war level. This can hardly be more than a 

 temporary condition. The normal world consumption of timber still 

 exceeds the possibilities of natural growth of forests which are eco- 

 nomically capable of exploitation at predepression price levels. Tim- 

 ber prices will have to go much higher than they have been, if the 

 forests of central Asia or the Amazon or Congo basins are ever to con- 

 tribute an important share of the world's timber trade. Altogether, a 

 survey of world consumption and world trade in wood shows no 

 evidence of permanent diminution, except in the United States, where 

 consumption for a century was abnormally high because abundant 

 supplies were available to meet the needs of the rapidly growing popu- 

 lation, transportation systems, and industries. 



USES OF WOOD ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING 



Wood is one of the most flexible of organic products. This accounts 

 for its adaptability to the many uses for which it has been employed 

 by mankind at different stages of his economic and social development. 



The form in which wood is used has undergone many changes in 

 historic times from the crudest of wooden implements to the most 

 complex of chemical compounds. Even in the comparatively short 

 lapse of time since the settlement of this country, it has evolved 

 through many different shapes. The Indian used the bark of trees 

 to make his tepee; the settler used logs to build his cabin. Later, 

 logs were sawed into lumber, which was used in the construction of 

 houses, furniture, and in other commodities of everyday life. A 

 comparatively recent development is the use of wood for making 

 paper. Recently more and more wood has been converted into veneer 

 and into pulp, out of which are fabricated boards, insulating materials, 

 artificial silk and leather, and many other commodities. The changes 

 in the use of wood reflect not only the state of technical development 

 of a country but also its economic structure and mode of life. A 

 decline in the consumption of wood in any particular form, or for any 

 particular use, therefore, will not be conclusive evidence that need for 

 wood is decreasing. 



As a country ascends from a primitive pastoral culture to a highly 

 industrialized state, the demand for wood, particularly structural 

 timber, tends to increase. This tendency is checked as supplies 

 become more limited and prices increase. Competing materials then 

 take the place of wood to a greater or less extent in many of its uses. 

 On the other hand, they may cause increased demand for wood in 

 other forms. As wood has lost ground in some fields of use, new uses 

 have arisen in which it continued to be an indispensable material. 



RAILROADS 



The railroads which carried coal to replace wood as fuel made 

 greater and greater demands upon wood for ties, as well as for cars 

 and construction of buildings and platforms. 



