Canadian Forestri/ Journal. Januarij, 1918 1505 



live trees on logged-ofT lands belong- a very active interest in the wood 



ing to the Anaconda Copper Mining fuel campaign, and has assigned an 



C.ompany, which has agreed to permit expert forester who devotes his whole 



cutting of this wood free of charge. time to co-operating with other agen- 



The'U. S. Forest Service has taken cies along these lines. 



To show how urgent is the need for coal conservation, the following is 

 quoted from bulletins of the United States Fuel Administration: 



Why United States is Short of Coal 



■"This country is short on transportation facilities, therefore it is short 

 on coal. 



•"One begins to comprehend the nature of the problem when confronted 

 with this fact^the transportation of the 30,000,000 car-loads of coal mined 

 last year constituted more than half of all the freight carried by the railroads. 



"But when to this eloquent factor is added the explanation that the 

 railroads themselves in their locomotives used last year between 125,000,000 

 and 135,000,000 tons of coal, and that they will this year require for their use 

 175,000,000 tons, it is seen that the hauling of coal is a burdensome proposition. 



"The greatest handicap to increasing coal-production during the past 

 year has been the lack of railroad coal-cars, aggravated by the lack of engines 

 and other transportation facilities. 



"It would be fortunate, indeed, if the railroads could use their entire 

 rolling stock and power plants, their terminals and their labor force, for the 

 transportation of munitions, of soldiers, and of food, so vital to the prose- 

 cution of the war. 



"But, unfortunately, the transportation of coal alone uses up 30 per cent, 

 of the entire railroad equipment of the United States, cars, locomotives, 

 sidings, and terminals. Coal shipments clutter up and overtax the roads. 



"Coal is therefore not only a problem, but it creates problems. It may 

 all be summed up in transportation. The waster with the shovel, therefore, 

 is a man who stands in a very serious position. With every shovelful of coal 

 he wastes he lowers the efficiency of the man on the firing-line, he lowers the 

 temperature of the cantonments, he reduces the speed of the submarine 

 destroyers, he diminishes the force of the projectile, he slackens the speed of 

 the munition-plant — in brief, he compels the unfortunate use of cars to carry 

 him another shovelful of coal." 



"When it is popularly said that munitions will win the war, or that 

 finances will win the war, these are merely other w^ays of saying that the 

 production of coal, and its application to the w^ar in armaments, war-ships, 

 merchant ships, shells, rifles, tanks, submarines, aeroplanes, or locomotives, 

 will win the war. The war has created a demand upon the United States 

 for one hundred million more tons of coal this year than is normally produced. 

 Because of the car-shortage and the congested condition of the railroads, it 

 will be impossible to increase the supply more than fifty million tons. The 

 remaining gap of fifty million tons wdll have to be filled in by conservation in 

 the homes and industrial plants of America. 



"Arbitrary limitation is a last resort and to be avoided if possible. In 

 many cases industrial concerns have already begun a voluntary curtailment 

 of their use of coal . The way to prevent those losses incident upon limitation 

 of industry is for every consumer of coal to cut off waste and unnecessary con- 

 sumption with an iron hand and to start on this intensive course of con- 

 servation without a moment's delay."" 



The following, we are told, are the lines of investigation and effort 

 already undertaken by the Conservation Division of the United States Fuel 

 Administration: 



