THE ANNUAL GROWTH 



Growth compared with cut. The estimated annual 

 growth in the Lake States is much less than the cut. 



*In terms of lumber, the aggregate annual cut of all 

 products would be about 5,160,000,000 board feet, and the 

 annual growth about 1,490,000,000 board feet. 



These figures indicate that the total rate of cutting 

 is more than three times the total rate of growth, and 

 that the stand suitable for lumber is being cut more 

 than three times as rapidly as it is growing. Further- 

 more, the larger part of the cut is from old-growth 

 stands in the North, while nearly all the growth is in 

 widely scattered second-growth stands. The cut is 

 relatively concentrated, while the growth is widely 

 distributed and without reference to the commercial 

 advantages of location. This is a consideration of 

 great significance for the future of the wood-using 

 industries. The concentrated supplies are steadily 

 waning. Their disappearance will mean the death 

 of industries unable to adapt their production to a 

 supply limited by the rate of growth or to import. 



Fire renders millions of acres of cut-over forest 

 land in the Lake States unproductive. If fires could 

 be kept out, the growth on these repeatedly burned 

 lands would probably eventually increase 50 per cent, 



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