Forest Resources and the Nation's Economy 



Lumber and veneer also are used in 

 baskets, boxes, barrels, and crates for 

 shipping farm products. Many agri- 

 cultural implements and equipment 

 wagons, tool handles, and feeding 

 troughs are made of wood. The bulk 

 of the posts used on farms are wood. 

 More than three-fourths of the 330 

 million wooden fence posts used an- 

 nually in the United States are for 

 farms. Like everyone else, farmers con- 

 sume wood in the form of paper, furni- 

 ture, and in numerous miscellaneous 

 wood products. 



Most farmers still depend on wood 

 for fuel, although such use is steadily 

 declining. Each year between 50 mil- 

 lion and 60 million cords of wood are 

 burned for fuel; about half of it is used 

 by the rural population in the form of 

 cordwood from the forest. More than 

 one-third is waste from wood-manu- 

 facturing industries which use it for 

 fuel. In the aggregate, fuel wood still 

 constitutes the second largest use of our 

 timber supply, the first being lumber. 



Of approximately 7 million farm 

 dwellings in the United States, nearly 

 95 percent are of wood construction 

 a considerably higher proportion than 

 of either urban or rural nonf arm dwell- 

 ings. The average farmhouse requires 

 more lumber than the average urban 

 dwelling. The average annual replace- 

 ment of nonrepayable farm dwellings 

 following the Second World War has 

 been about 150,000; this construction 

 requires about 2 billion board feet of 

 lumber. Current annual requirements 

 for both new farm construction and 

 maintenance and repair total between 

 4 billion and 5 billion board feet. 



An additional 1 billion to 1 .5 billion 

 board feet of lumber is consumed an- 

 nually in the manufacture of boxes, 

 crates, barrels, and baskets, which are 

 used for the distribution of fresh fruits, 

 vegetables, and other farm products. 

 Although the amount of wood used in 

 agricultural implements, including tool 

 handles, is declining, roughly 125 mil- 

 lion board feet is used annually for that 

 purpose. 



Wood lots are an asset to most farms. 



727 



They provide timber products for farm 

 use, are a source of supplementary cash 

 income, and afford protection against 

 the elements. In 1944 farm woodlands 

 totaled 166 million acres, or nearly 15 

 percent of all land in farms, and on 

 many farms the sale of forest products 

 comprised more than half the value 

 of all farm products sold. 



Farm woodlands are an important 

 component of the total forest economy, 

 comprising nearly a third of our total 

 commercial forest area. Nearly 85 per- 

 cent of the farm woodland is com- 

 mercial forest actually or potentially 

 valuable in supplying commercial tim- 

 ber products. Although so seriously de- 

 pleted or poorly managed that they 

 produce no more than one-third to 

 one-half the volume of wood they are 

 capable of producing, farm forests 

 nevertheless supply nearly one-fourth 

 of the total output of sawlogs, one- 

 third of the pulpwood and gum naval 

 stores, and the bulk of the fence posts, 

 cordwood used for fuel, and maple 

 syrup and maple sugar. They also fur- 

 nish large quantities of railroad ties, 

 poles, pit props, wood naval stores, and 

 numerous other forest products. 



It is estimated that in 1947 the value 

 of nonmanufactured forest products 

 obtained from farm woodlands (in- 

 cluding both products sold and those 

 for home use) was about 700 million 

 dollars, or 29 percent of the value of 

 such products from all forest land. Ten 

 States, all but one of which were in 

 the South, each produced farm timber 

 products valued at more than 25 mil- 

 lion dollars. 



THE INDIVIDUAL benefits from the 

 forest in many ways. Not only does it 

 contribute to his well-being and the 

 national standard of living but also it 

 offers many persons a livelihood that 

 can be both secure and challenging, 

 advantages of residence in stable and 

 progressive communities, and spiritual 

 and physical welfare. 



Employment and income that can 

 be attributed to the timber resource 

 have not been estimated authorita- 



