PARTIAL ABSTRACT STATEMENT OF TIMBER CUT 

 DURING THE YEAR 1896 IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



To Hon. Thos. J. Edge, Secretary of Agriculture: 



Dear Sir: It is by law made the duty of the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, "as far as practicable, to procure statistics of the amount of 

 timber cut during each year, the purposes for which it is used and the 

 amount of land thus cleared as compared with the amount of land 

 newly brought under timber cultivation." 



I have, under your direction, instituted such inquiries as were pos- 

 sible, to comply with the above requirement. 



About fourteen hundred circulars were sent out to the lumbermen 

 of the State. Replies have been received from about half of them. 

 It is unfortunate that some of the largest operators are conspicuous 

 by absence of statistics from this report. We can only say that 

 these figures represent in brief the information which we have re- 

 ceived up to December 1st, 1896, and that a very large proportion of 

 the timber cut remains unreported to us. This is the more worthy of 

 regret, because it prevents such a showing to the public as would 

 without injury to anyone, probably hasten legal relief and protection 

 in which the lumbermen themselves have the largest financial in- 

 terest. 



The brief period elapsing between the close of the year and the 

 appearance of your report makes it impossible to secure all the in- 

 formation desired, it is therefore suggested that our reports here- 

 after be considered as extending from June 1st of one year to the 

 same date of the following year. 



It is proper that I should add, I am indebted to Mr. Robert S. 

 Ccnklin, clerk of the Forestry Division, for collection and prepara- 

 tion of the statistics used in the following table. It has been no 

 slight task, and his zeal and fidelity are worthy of commendation. 



There still remains a large body of information in our hands upon 

 this subject which would be well worth publishing later in some pop- 

 ular form. 



It is with regret that we announce there is as yet, so far as we are 

 informed, no determined, practical, intelligent effort at timber 

 restoration on a la*ge scale in this State, except by the directors of 

 the Philadelphia Trusts, who have instituted a measure of rational 



