THE USES OF WOOD FOR FUEL, ETC. 



363 



broad results of this necessity may, in the end, be very 

 beneficial. 



In an attempt to determine the possible extent to 

 which wood, in case of emergency like the present, may 

 be substituted for coal in Massachusetts, we must take 

 into consideration the annual growth in volume of 

 Massachusetts forests. As we have no reliable statistics 

 on this subject, we can only get at an approximation 

 on the basis of our forest area, and even the total forest 

 area of the State can only be gotten at by approximation. 

 The total land area of the State of Massachusetts covers 

 5,179,520 acres. To allow 50 per cent of this total as 

 our forest area would be conservative. That would 

 give us in round numbers 2,500,000 acres of forest land. 

 If we reduce this acreage by 50 per cent to allow for 

 unstocked open areas and areas grown up with pine 

 and other con- 

 iferous species 

 which could 

 not be used to 

 advantage for 

 fuel purposes, 

 and for areas 

 containing tim- 

 ber larger than 

 we would be 

 justified in us- 

 ing for fuel 

 p u r p o ses, it 

 would still 

 leave 1,250,000 

 acres of our 

 forest area as 

 woodland 

 which would 

 yield at this 

 time princi- 

 pally cord 

 wood. Again, 

 allowing a n 

 average vol- 

 ume growth on 

 this acreage 

 of a cord per 

 acre per year 



would give us 1,250,000 cords, a conservative estimate 

 of what we could cut annually from Massachusetts 

 forests without diminishing the so-called forest principle. 

 In other words, if our estimate for last winter's cut of 

 cord wood in Massachusetts of 500,000 cords is approxi- 

 mately correct, we could, in case of necessity, cut two 

 and one-half times that much without seriously eating 

 into our forest principle. If we should substitute 

 1,250,000 cords of wood annually in place of bituminous 

 coal for manufacturing purposes, it would result in an 

 annual saving of 833,333 tons of coal, or approximately 

 4 per cent of the total annual consumption of bituminous 

 coal in Massachusetts. 



WOOD TO THE RESCUE 



This is the boiler room of the Grafton-Knight Manufacturing^ Company. Noticethe automatic stokers^ for 

 feeding coal, but had it not been for their use of wood 

 shut down on account of coal exhaustion. 



with forestry principles, it would actually result in a 

 great improvement of the forests, as it would mean the 

 cleaning out of inferior species, and over-mature and 

 decrepit trees. But as a matter of fact, it is certain that 

 under the prevailing conditions this wood will not be 

 cut in accordance with forestry principles, except in a 

 very few cases where the owner will be more interested 

 in building Up the condition of his land than in taking 

 advantage of the exceptional opportunities to market 

 wood for profit. The greatest part of the actual cut- 

 ting is sure to be clear cutting, as the wood can be 

 obtained at a lower cost by such a method. However, 

 this method of clear cutting will not result in as serious 

 impairment to Massachusetts forests as it might seem 

 at first thought. The wood cut for fuel purposes is 

 almost entirely hard woods of deciduous species. These 



all sprout 

 vigo r o u s 1 y 

 from the 

 stump, and ac- 

 cordingly, the 

 greatest possi- 

 ble volume of 

 growth per 

 unit of area is 

 obtained b y 

 this method of 

 clear cutting. 

 Accordingly, 

 the amount of 

 damage done 

 to our forests 

 will be entirely 

 in proportion 

 to the extent 

 of the later 

 burning over 

 of such clear 

 cut areas. 



It can only 

 be hoped that 

 the present 

 fuel emergency 

 and the result- 

 ing necessity 

 of drawing extensively on our native forest for fuel 

 wood will lead to a better system of forest management 

 all along the line. Although some progress has been 

 made in recent years towards a more scientific treatment 

 of our forest area, yet it is a notorious fact that the 

 forest fire, the most serious menace to our forests, still 

 remains uncontrolled and practically no extensive cut- 

 ting is done with any regard for future growth on the 

 land cut over. 



The amount of wood which will be used as a substi- 

 tute for coal during next winter will, of course, depend 

 entirely upon the coal situation. If, as is apparent now, 

 the pressure of orders under which our manufacturing 



as fuel, this plant would have been compelled to 



If such an annual cut could be made in accordance plants are now working continues, and if, as is apparent 



