71 



PARAGRAPH XXV. 



FOREST AREA. 



Generally speaidng, countries having over tv\enty per cent 

 of woodlands have forest resources sufficient to supply their 

 lumber industries and their firewood consumption, provided 

 that such area is properly stocked and conservatively used. It 

 must be admitted, however, that Germany even does not fulfill 

 this proviso. 



To supply the present consumption of the United States, 

 the present forest area, ceteris paribus, seems more than sufficient. 

 550 million acres, the present forest area, should yield, at the 

 small rate of 115 feet board measure produced per acre and 

 year, sixty-three billion feet board measure per annum. 



Verily, if this enormous stretch of forest were properly 

 stocked and conservatively managed, the lumber consumption 

 of the United States, now about forty-five billion feet board 

 measure, could never exceed, in times to come, the increment 

 production of her forest area. 



After circular 171, Forest Service, the original forests have 

 covered in the United States not less than 850 million acres 

 (45 per cent of our land surface). This area has been reduced, 

 down to the present time, to approximately 550 million acres ; 

 so that the forests cover, now-a-days, 29o/o of the United 

 States. 



The northern forest now contains 90 million acres, or 60 per 

 cent of its original area. 



The southern forest now contains 150 million acres, or 69 per 

 cent of its original area. 



