20 TIMBER 



imported from Canada and the States, has disappeared 

 from large districts, and although it still holds second place 

 in the cut of United States timber, it is chiefly used for 

 home consumption, the quantity brought into Great Britain 

 being only one-fifth of what it was ; consequently this timber, 

 formerly plentiful and cheap here, is now scarce and dear. 

 Kauri, of New Zealand, which thirty years ago was the 

 chief export from the island, will, according to the opinion 

 of an expert, be extinct in a few years. 



Millions of acres are destroyed by fire yearly, and 

 enormous waste and destruction of timber have gone on 

 for many years in Canada and the United States, probably 

 more than has been converted to useful purposes. 



The United States furnish as good an object lesson as 

 one could have of the enormous quantity of timber used, 

 and of how rapidly a country with enormous resources 

 may be depleted, and it is unique in this respect, that its 

 Forestry Department furnishes particulars which are not to 

 be had elsewhere. 



Rapid as has been the increase of population in the 

 United States, the timber consumption has been still more 

 rapid. The increase of population from 1880 to 1900 was 

 52 per cent., the increase of lumber cut was 94 per cent. 

 The following are a few details of the annual consumption 

 of wood taken from the United States statistics for 1905, 

 which are only approximate, and the actual figures may be 

 from 10 per cent, to even 25 per cent, more : 



12,800,000,000 cubic feet used for fuel 

 2,911,000,000 lumber. 

 200,000,000 mine timbers. 

 408,000,000 pulp. 

 280,000,000 sleepers. 

 128,000,000 tan bark. 



