44 



THE FORESTER. 



February, 



lands in the East does not exceed 1,500 

 feet per acre. The forest area in this part 

 of the country is somewhat less than half 

 a billion acres. The stand of timber upon 

 it, therefore, may be about 750 billion 

 (B. M.). Adding up together this amount 

 and that estimated in the West (630 bil- 

 lion feet) the total stand in the country 

 would appear to be in the neighborhood 

 of 1,380 billion feet (B. M.). The rate 

 of consumption is expressed in the annual 

 cut which at present is a little more than 

 25 billion feet. The present stand, the in- 

 crement not taken in account, would, there- 

 fore, supply the present rate of consump- 

 tion for about 50 years. Further, it is 

 estimated that the average acre of wood- 



land produces annually one-third of a 

 cord by growth. The annual increment 

 of all our forests amounts, therefore, to 

 over 300 billion feet (B. M.) of which only 

 one-tenth or 30 billion feet consists prob- 

 ably of merchantable timber. This 30 

 billion as compared with the amount of 

 timber annually cut (over 25 billion feet) 

 at first glance seems to be a little in excess 

 of the annual demands of our sawmills, 

 but if to these requirements be added the 

 amount of timber annually destroyed by 

 fire and other sources of loss it is alto- 

 gether probable that the mere annual in- 

 crement of our forests is hardly able to 

 satisfy the existing need for wood. 





I 



A CHARACTERISTIC STAND OF TIMBER IN THE WHITE RIVER PLATEAU REGION IN COLORADO 

 SHOWING LARGE GRASSY PARKS WHICH ARE THE PROBABLE RESULT OF OLD FIRES. 



(From the Report of G. B. Sudworth, 20th Annual Report of Geological Survey, Part V.) 



