xiv INTRODUCTION 



over 350,000,000 barrel hoops, over 3,300,000 cords 

 of native pulp wood, 170,000,000 cubic feet of round 

 mine timbers, nearly 1,500,000 cords of wood for 

 distillation, over 140,000 cords for excelsior, and 

 nearly 3,500,000 telephone and telegraph poles. 

 In short, we take from our forests yearly, including 

 waste in logging and manufacture, more than 

 twenty-two billion cubic feet of wood valued at 

 about $1,375,000,000. This is enough lumber to 

 construct seven board walks twenty-five feet wide 

 from the earth to the moon, a distance of about 

 240,000 miles, or a board walk one-third of a mile 

 wide completely around the earth at the equator. 

 These figures give a little idea of the enormous 

 annual drainage upon the forests of the United 

 States and immediately suggest an important rea- 

 son that led to the establishment of our National 

 Forests. 



The Lumber Industry. Measured by the num- 

 ber of persons employed, lumbering is the coun- 

 try's largest manufacturing industry. In its 48,- 

 000 saw mills it employs more than 600,000 men. 

 Its investment in these plants is over $1,000,- 

 000,000, and the investment in standing timber 

 is $1,500,000,000 more, This industry furnishes 



