79 



PARAGRAPH XXVI. 



THE FOREST WEALTH OF THE WORLD. 



Attempts have been made, to establish, by co-operation of 

 the leading foresters of the world, a fairly correct estimate of 

 the forest wealth of the world. The American legislatures have 

 been appealed to, repeatedly, by requests to furnish the means 

 required for an estimate of the forest wealth of a state or of 

 the nation, and many a layman believes^ and quite correctly 

 so thai the solution of the forestry problem depends largely on 

 a correct knowledge of the forest wealth of the world. 



Indeed if there is plenty of timber at hand in the world, what 

 is the use, it seems, of predicting a timber famine, and all the 

 evils connected with it? 



Unfortunately, statistics with reference to the world's wealth 

 of timber will never be collected for the following reasons: 



1. The majority of the woodlands of the globe are not placed 

 under forest administration ; and there is not at hand, usually, a 

 staff capable of estimating correctly the stumpage found in them. 



2. It is surprising to find, in America even, that the most 

 up-to-date lumber concerns are admittedly ignorant of the amount 

 of stumpage controlled by them. 



3. The definition of the term "timber" depends on localit)' 

 as well as on time; and many a tree that is now considered 

 timber in a given section would not have been included in an 

 estimate of timber some ten years ago. 



4. In Germany, even, there is not at hand any knowledge of 

 the amount of timber actually standing; and there are many 

 young forests gradually growing into timber which cannot be 

 considered as timber to-day. 



5. The expense of a universal timber estimate would be gi- 

 gantic. There is many an acre of forest in Canada, in South 



