Course in Forestry 27 



Of the several hundred million acres of woodland in the United 

 States, the greater part is today culled, cut, and burned over. With 

 a most extraordinary and constantly increasing demand for wood in 

 all its forms, today 90 million people are dependent for their timber 

 on what is comparatively a remnant of the original supply. It seems 

 certain that no change in these conditions is likely to occur before 

 serious disturbances in our economic conditions are set up, due to a 

 shortage in the timber supply. It will require the services of many 

 thousand trained men to start the work of protecting and improving 

 our forests, and it will require the continued efforts for all time of 

 many thousands more to carry on the work successfully. 



Fortunately it may be said that a general awakening to the 

 needs of better treatment of woodlands has taken place. All classes 

 of people are beginning to realize a few simple and important truths : 

 that not all land is plowland ; that it is poor business to destroy 

 a forest and throw away the land when with a little care it might 

 be logged and still leave a valuable forest for future use ; that it is 

 wasteful to leave the large areas of non-agricultural lands in a non- 

 productive waste-land condition. 



As a consequence of this awakening, guided and promoted espe- 

 cially by the intelligent and energetic efforts of the United States 

 Forest Service, hundreds of forest owners have of late called for the 

 advice and .assistance of men trained in the right use and care of the 

 woods. That this demand for help will increase is certain, and it is 

 reasonable even to believe that quite a rapid increase in this demand 

 may be looked for. As it is, there are hundreds of estates now in 

 charge of untrained men, who are unable to provide more than mere 

 patrol service, while the service of a trained man would not cost any 

 more and would certainly yield larger returns. 



Besides the owners of estates whose lands are held for various 

 reasons, there are many persons engaged in dealing in timber land 

 for the purpose of direct exploitation (lumbering) or for speculation, 

 who employ well paid men as "timber-lookers," "estimators," or 

 "cruisers," to make timber or forest surveys, usually with a view 

 to determining the present market value of the woods. That a 

 trained man who sees not only the merchantable stem, but also appre- 

 ciates and is able to report intelligently all features which make up 

 the forest and its wealth, would be more useful than the untrained 

 man, would seem to require no argument. The trained timber sur- 

 veyor, then, should replace the untrained "timber-looker." 



A number of railway companies, finding their available supply 

 of tie and construction timber becoming short, have within the last 

 few years entered upon an investigation of the possibilities of the 

 practice of forestry on their lands. Several have already made great 

 investments and employ numbers of foresters, and more will doubt- 

 less be forced into it in the near future. The production of paper 

 piilp in quantities has led to great investments in plants and mills, 

 and this is not warranted unless there is a very long supply of the 



