INTRODUCTION 



THE real necessity for seeding and planting in forest practice is 

 evident when we consider the rapidity with which the pro- 

 ductive forest area in the United States is decreasing and the 

 condition in which a large part of the cut-over land is left after 

 lumbering. Heretofore, as the supply of timber from one region 

 has become exhausted, new areas of virgin forest have been 

 opened to supply the market. The rapid inroads in our virgin 

 forests in recent years have turned public attention toward the 

 cut-over and burned areas with the hope of later obtaining from 

 them at least a part of the nation's requirements. On many of 

 these areas a second crop can be assured only by artificial re- 

 generation. 



1. THE FOREST AREA OF THE UNITED STATES 



At the time of the settlement of the country, the forests of the 

 United States not only were extensive but embraced some of the 

 finest stands of timber in the world. As to quantity and variety 

 of commercial species they were far beyond those of any other 

 country. They were embraced chiefly in five great forest re- 

 gions, having a total area of approximately 850 million acres. 1 

 Scrub growth and brush covered about 100 million acres ad- 

 ditional. The northern forest covered approximately 150 million 

 acres; the southern, 220 million acres; the central, 280 million 

 acres; the Rocky Mountain, 110 million acres; and the Pacific, 

 90 million acres (Fig. 1). These forests, which once covered 

 about 46 per cent of the total area of the country, have been re- 

 duced by fire, lumbering, and clearing to but 29 per cent, or 550 

 million acres. 2 



1 Kellogg, R. S.: The timber supply of the United States. (U. S. Forest 

 Service, Cir. 166. 1909.) 



2 Price, O. W., Kellogg, R. S., and Cox, W. T.: The forests of the United 

 States; their use. (U. S. Forest Service, Cir. 171. 1909.) 



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