AMERICAN FORESTRY 



267 



for present unsatisfactory conditions. Two-thirds of 

 the timber in California is in private hands and is 

 being cut without regulation. The state now has a 

 population of about three million people which con- 

 sumes about three billion feet of lumber annually, or 

 about one thousand feet board measure per person. A 

 careful study of the subject indicates a population of 

 over seven million in 1969, by which time the private 

 forests will have been largely cut-over, and will not yet 

 have produced'a second crop of merchantable timber, thus 

 increasing the drain on the public forests. Statistics 

 from the more thickly settled regions of Europe show a 

 decrease in lumber consumption as the supply diminishes 

 and the population increases. California, however, is 

 and will continue to be a great fruit producing state. 

 Fruit producers must have box lumber. The citrus in- 

 dustry alone now requires about 150 million feet of box 

 lumber annually. It is not likely, therefore, that the per 

 capita consumption of lumber will fall below 300 feet 

 during the next fifty years. In 1969 then, California will 

 require at least two billion feet of lumber a year, which 

 it will be necessary and desirable to furnish largely from 

 the nearest available source the National Forests. 

 Calculating an annual per acre growth of 300 feet, which 

 from past studies appears conservative, the nine million 

 acres of forest land within the National Forests should 

 be capable of meeting this demand and supplying over 

 half a billion feet for export. 



While it is conceded that the distribution of the cut 

 from the National Forests of this state will undoubtedly 

 be governed in the future largely by economic laws and 

 that these forests must be regulated for the benefit of 

 both the state and nation, it seems clear that it would 

 be wise and farsighted for organized local agricultural 

 interests to take steps to supply their lumber needs from 

 the nearby National Forests. Such tendencies are in 

 evidence and the first steps in forest regulation that are 

 now being taken here are predicted on the belief that 

 the public forests should meet such local needs continu- 

 ously insofar as is consistent with national welfare. 



A working plan for an area of about 350,000 acres of 

 forest land in the northeastern part of the state is now 

 being prepared. It is our hope that it will be possible to 

 manage this forest on a continuous sustained yield basis 

 after a portion of the surplus growing stock has been 

 removed, and that the regulation of this forest will 

 contribute toward maintaining the stability of the citrus 

 industry. 



A basic fundamental study of state-wide present and 

 future conditions of population, timber supplies, lumber 

 movements, transportation routes, agricultural develop- 

 ment and lumber consumption, is well underway. As a 

 result of this study, we hope to be able to detect the 

 National Forest areas where the future increased demand 

 for forest products will first be felt. This much accom- 

 plished, these areas will be intensively studied and the 

 form of forest management will be introduced which 

 promises to contribute most toward both local and 

 national continued prosperity. 



WASHINGTON'S SICK SYCAMORES 



T^HOUGH now distinctly on the sick list, and looking 

 *- pitiable, indeed, as if they had been transplanted 

 from one of the shell-torn battlefields of France, the 

 big sycamores on Eleventh Street, Washington, D. C, 

 are confidently expected to make a splendid recovery 

 and a beautiful showing by the late fall, and next year 

 they will be better than ever before. This is the expert 

 opinion of Mr. Clifford Lanham, the Superintendent of 

 City Trees of Washington, and he has good reason for 

 his confidence, because of his experience with trees 

 similarly treated in previous years. As Mr. Lanham 

 says, the sycamore, or buttonwood, as it is often called, 



SYCAMORES UNDER TREATMENT 



Eleventh Street, in Washington, is lined with sycamores, now presenting 

 a weird and ghastly appearance, causing much comment. They are 

 diseased and have been pruned and treated scientifically, and their 

 ultimate recovery is confidently expected by city tree authorities. 



will recuperate from the most severe treatment, and the 

 pruning which has been done was absolutely necessary 

 in order to rid the trees of the sycamore louse, and also 

 a slight infection of the oyster-shell scale. The insect 

 occurs principally on the far ends of the branches, on 

 the youngest growth, and it will succumb only to the 

 strongest chemical spray. This spray causes a chemi- 

 cal change when brought in contact with white lead, so 

 it was impossible to treat the trees properly without 

 ruining the paint of the houses in the vicinity, and this 

 also argued in favor of the final decision to prune severe- 

 ly. It will be interesting to watch the development of 

 the new growth during the summer, to see these starkly 

 naked limbs cover themselves with tender green. 



