TIMBER RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CENSUS STATISTICS OF FORESTS AND FOREST PRODUCTS. 



1. General remarl's. 



The only meaus hitherto existing for determining the amount of tim- 

 ber-lands within the United States, and the principal facts concerning 

 the manufacture of articles wholly or partially of wood, has been the 

 national census. In some of the States, however, a census is taken, 

 generally, at intervals of ten years, and alternating with the decennial 

 census of the general government, and several of these afford more de- 

 tailed information. Although these enumerations involve errors in 

 particular cases, an excess in one instance may sometimes be reduced 

 by an omission or an underestimate in another. These errors may be 

 supposed to be somewhat uniform in their character, and not necessa- 

 rily greater at one period of time or in one State or section of country 

 than another. The statistics of the census are for general purposes 

 comparable with one another, when taken under uniform instructions, 

 and may be regarded as approximately near the truth, the general tend- 

 ency, however, being always to under-estimate, rather than to exceed. 



In many instances the inquiries of the enumerators are suspected as 

 intended to form a basis of taxation, and many facts may escape record 

 altogether, while the motives for exaggeration could seldom exist. 



We will present the general results relating to forest-products and 

 industries depending upon them, in the order of time, and as concisely 

 as appears practicable. 



2. Attempts to report statistics of industries in 1810 and 1820. 



1810. — The first attempt to collect these statistics by the census, was 

 in 1810, when under an amendatory act passed May 1, 1810, the mar- 

 shals were instructed to procure such statistical information as the 

 Secretary of the Treasury might direct. The returns were meager and 

 not comparable, except from Pennsylvania, where the returns from saw- 

 mills were reported with ai)parent fullness. This interesting statement 

 is given in connection with our notice of that State. 



1820. — The census of 1820 undertook in a very careless way, to report 

 manufactures, but there was no attempt made to summarize by States, 

 and the item of lumber was but seldom reported from counties. This 

 failure apparently discouraged any attempt at procuring industrial sta- 

 tistics in 1830. 



3. Census of 1840. 



The census of 1840 obtained statistics of the lumber trade as a branch 

 of commerce and as a manufacture. These, as returned by States, 

 were as follows : 



