42 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



forest are exhausted and smaller sizes must satisfy 

 our demands. 



It is, then, not woodlands, not the area of wooded 

 country, which has a meaning as far as material 

 forest resources are concerned, but the composition 

 and condition of the timber on that area determines 

 its value. 



Thus nearly 50 per cent of Massachusetts is cov- 

 ered with a wood growth, but the lumber product 

 of that state would not suffice to supply the needs 

 of one-tenth of its population. Not only is there 

 hardly any lumber to be found ready for the axe, 

 but the percentage of growth capable of produc- 

 ing desirable material is exceedingly small. 



Thousands of square miles in the United States 

 are in similar condition ; they are woodlands, but 

 the composition and condition of the forest growth 

 is such as to have no significance as regards lumber 

 supply for the present and for a long future. 



The capacity of the forest to produce new sup- 

 plies depends both as to quantity and quality on 

 the climate, character of the soil, and still more on 

 the care which the forest receives. 



In the uncared-for, natural, or virgin forest the 

 production is always much smaller than in the 

 forest properly managed, and, on the average, of a 

 much inferior kind. Not that the magnificent clear 

 lumber which we find in virgin woods could be 

 much improved in quality, but considering the 

 time and space, the product has been obtained 

 with the maximum waste of both. 



