,6 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



FROM WHENCE SHALL WORLD'S LUMBER BE OBTAINED? 



The collections of woods exhibited by the various nations at the Louisiana 

 Purchase Exposition of 1904 are of great interest, as they not only show the 

 proportionate timber supply of each exhibiting nation, but the character of the 

 forests and of tree species as well. 



It has been a favorite pastime with officials of the United States Govern- 

 ment, and of several States of the Union, to exploit the vastness of American 

 forests, and the incredible amount of timber which is available for market in 

 our forest covered territory, and little thought has been given to the perpetua- 

 tion of these timbered areas, or as to whence shall the next generation obtain 

 wood for the manufactures and for future export trade. 



\Yith the advent of the band saw and the rapid advance in lumbering and 

 milling machinery, extensive logging, railways, and increased carrying capa- 

 city of ocean vessels and railway freight trains, to say nothing of the destruc- 

 tion by great forest conflagrations, the forests of this nation are being rap- 

 idly depleted. 



No adequate encouragement to forest extension or perpetuation is given 

 by the American Government or by more than one or two States, and scarcely 

 anything is being done by individuals. 



It is then a pertinent question, from whence shall the lumber supply of our 

 coming generations be obtained? 



A Cabinet officer told the writer a year or so ago that the Philippines con- 

 tained vast forests and would supply the world with timber. Other persons 

 have thought that Cuba would furnish an inexhaustible quantity of timber. 

 And all have looked to the tropics as the great producer of all valuable woods. 



But with the vastly increased demand for timber and lumber from all por- 

 tions of the world, the tropics have disappointed the explorers who have been 

 seeking wood for the larger commercial and manufacturing enterprises and we 

 are forced to look to temperate regions for the great majority of commercial 

 timbers. 



As a rule the timbers of tropic regions are of extreme density. The an- 

 nual growths are so fine as to require a glass to distinguish them. The rate 

 of growth is remarkably slow, requiring several hundred years to become of 

 value for commercial uses. This may be readily understood when the speci- 

 mens from all tropic countries are examined. 



It is true there are some more open woods in the tropics, but these are 

 usually of but slight value. 



