110 



OUR FORESTS 



creasing in acreage and in quality, thanks to the demands of an 

 increasing population, a woeful ignorance on the part of the owners 

 of the land, and wastefulness on the part of cutters and users alike. 

 A glance at the map on page 109 shows -the distribution of 

 our principal forests. Washington ranks first in the produc- 

 tion of lumber. Here the great Douglas fir, one of the " ever- 

 greens," forms the chief source of supply. In the Southern states, 

 especially Louisiana and Mississippi, yellow pine and cypress are 

 the trees most lumbered. 



Which states produce the most hardwoods ? From which states 

 do we get most of our yellow pine, spruce, red fir, redwood? 

 Where are the heaviest forests of the United States ? 



Uses of Wood. — Even in this day of coal, wood is still by far 

 the most used fuel. It is useful in building. It outlasts iron 



under water, in addition to 

 being durable and light. 

 It is cheap and, with care 

 of the forests, inexhaust- 

 ible, while our mineral 

 wealth may some day be 

 used up. Distilled wood 

 gives wood alcohol. Par- 

 tially burned wood is char- 

 coal. In our forests much 

 of the soft wood (the cone- 

 bearing trees, spruce, bal- 

 sam, hemlock, and pine), 

 and poplars, aspens, basswood, with some other species, make paper 

 pulp. The daily newspaper and cheap books are responsible for in- 

 roads on our forests which cannot well be repaired. It is not nec- 

 essary to take the largest trees to make pulp wood. Hence many 

 young trees of not more than six inches in diameter are sacrificed. 

 Of the hundreds of species of trees in our forests, the conifers are 

 probably most sought after for lumber. Pine, especially, is prob- 

 ably used more extensively than any other wood. It is used in 

 all heavy construction work, frames of houses, bridges, masts, 

 spars and timber of ships, floors, railway ties, and many other 



Transportation of ] umber in the West. 

 A logging train. 



