38 BULLETIN 753, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In this connection it is very desirable that reasonably close esti- 
mates be made in advance of the amount of wood which will be 
available to different communities from all sources. It would be a 
comparatively simple undertaking to secure estimates of the amount 
of fuel wood which is ready for use or which it is planned to cut for 
the next winter. The figures should include (1) the number of cords 
used in the previous year; (2) the number of cords cut, including 
the amount left over from the previous winter; (3) the number of 
cords to be cut for winter, say from September 1 to December 31. 
Such figures would afford valuable bases not only for organizing 
wood fuel work but also for allotting supplies of coal. 
' SUMMARY. 
1. With enormous supplies of wood widely distributed over much 
of the United States, especially the eastern half, there is no excuse 
for suffering because of inability to get-coal. 
2. Wood is already widely used in rural districts; its use can and 
should be greatly extended, at least during the present crisis, to save 
coal and cars for more essential uses. 
3. Wood can be substituted for coal with greatest public benefit 
in places where rail-hauled coal can be replaced with wagon-hauled 
wood. Long distance rail transportation of wood is not economical]. 
4, Domestic consumers in rural districts and small cities can most 
easily substitute wood fuel for coal. Most types of stoves and 
furnaces can be adapted to the use of wood. 
5. Except in case of plants which use their own wood refuse, or 
others in the close vicinity of such plants, wood fuel is less economi- 
cal than coal for factories. When coal can not be had, however, 
wood can be used with fairly satisfactory results, and is cheaper than 
shutting down the plant. 
6 The widespread use of wood for fuel, if only such wood as is best 
fitted for this purpose be taken, will be of great, benefit to our forests 
as well as a source of revenue to their owners. 
7. To promote the use of wood fuel, especially where it is not now 
in general use, will require organized effort, preferably by com- 
munity, municipal, or State organizations. Such effort should cover 
the stimulation of demand for wood and stimulation of production 
by private agencies, as well as direct organization of producing, 
transporting, and marketing of wood fuel by the community. 
8. Reserves of wood fuel should be established in all districts 
where there is a possibility of fuel shortage. For the present these 
reserves will probably consist largely of wood purchased from pro- 
ducers; it may eventually be advisable for communities to own their 
own woodlands in order that they may more effectively regulate the 
cutting and the price of fuel wood. 
