38 



TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 

 Table 9. — Timber removed each year from the forests of the United States. 



Cut. 



Lumber 



Hewed ties 



Pulp wood 



Round mine timbers 



Fencing 



Poles 



Shingles , 



Vehicle stock, handles, 

 woodenware, furniture, etc 



Export logs and hewn tim- 

 bers. 



Veneer logs 



Tight staves 



Tight heading 



Slack staves 



Slack heading , 



Hoops 



Piling 



Lath 



Distillation 



Tanning extract 



Excelsior 



Fuel wood 



Total 



Destroyed by — 



Fire ' 



Insects, disease, etc. 



Total. 



Quantity. 



40,700,000 M board feet. 



87,500,000 ties 



4,550,000 cords 



2.50,000,000 cubic feet . . . 



900,000.000 posts 



4,260,000 poles 



8.850,000 M shingles-... 

 870,000 M board feet.... 



200,000 M board feet. 



650,000 M feet logs.. 

 286,000.000 staves. . . 



21,000.000 sets 



1,010,000,000 staves. 



61,000,000 sets 



333,000,000 hoops... 



1,500,000 pieces 



2,375,000 M lath.... 



1,550,000 cords 



1,250,000 cords 



200,000 cords 



110,000,000 cords.... 



Equivalent in lumber which could have been 

 sawed from the same trees. 



Hardwood. 



Board feet. 



8,700,000,000 



2.100,000,000 



200,000,000 



375,000,000 



165,000,000 



55,000;000 



850,000,000 



100,000,000 



660,000,000 

 380,000,000 

 140,000,000 

 265,000,000 

 120,000,000 

 90.000,000 

 20,000,000 



375,000.000 

 135,000,000 

 60,000,000 



14,790,000,000 



500,000,000 

 500,000,000 



15.790,000,000 



Softwood. 



Board feet. 

 32,000,000,000 

 525.000,000 

 1,400,000,000 

 37.';, 000. 000 

 660,000,000 

 200,000,000 

 890,000,000 

 20,000,000 



100,000,000 



120,000,000 

 55.000,000 

 15,000,000 

 40,000,000 



105,000; 000 



70,000,000 



15,000,000 



36,590,000,000 



1,750,000,000 

 2,000,000,000 



40,340,000,000 



Total. 



Board feet. 



40,700,000,000 



2.625,000,000 



1,600,000,000 



750,000,000 



825,000,000 



2,'i5,000,000 



890,000,000 



870,000,000 



200,000,000 



780,000,000 

 435'. 000, 000 

 1,55,000,000 

 305,000,000 

 225,000,000 

 90,000,000 

 90,000,000 



375,000,000 

 135,000.000 

 75, 000; 000 



51,380,000,000 



2,250,000,000 

 2,500,000,000 



56,130,000,000 



Equivalent in standing limber. 



Hardwood. 



Cuiic feet. 



1,905,300,000 



840,000,000 



64,350,000 



162,500,000 



,^60,000,000 



11,700,000 



196,500,000 



22,500,000 



101,200,000 

 83,250,000 

 29,250,000 

 58,080,000 

 26,7.50,000 

 19,650,000 

 3,900,000 



163,800,000 



146,250,000 



18,720,000 



7,315,000,000 



11,. 528, 700, 000 



330,000,000 

 125,000,000 



11,983,700.000 



Softwood. 



Cubic feet. 



7,008,000,000 

 210,000,000 

 468,000,000 

 162,500,000 



1,440,000,000 



43,560,000 



194,700,000 



3,190,000 



22,600,000 



18,400,000 



11,990,000 



3,250,000 



8,580,000 



22,725,000 



15,600,000 

 'i7,'5,W,'666 



4.680.000 

 3,135,000,000 



12,790,215,000 



750,000,000 

 525,000.000 



14,066,215,000 



Total. 



Cubic feet. 



8,913,300,0 



1,0,50,000,000 

 533,350,000 

 325,000,000 



1,800,000,000 

 65,250,000 

 194,700,000 

 199,690,000 



45,000,000 



119,600,000 

 95,240,000 

 32,500,000 



ee.eeo.ooo 

 49,475,000 



19,6,50,000 

 19, ,500, 000 



191,350,000 



146,250,000 



23,400,000 



10,450,000,000 



24,318,915,000 



1,080,000,000 

 650,000,000 



26,048,915,000 



Note.— Figure^on amounts used are in most cases the most recent data available. For lumber the average total cut for the period 1909-1918 was taken (5 prewar and 

 6 war years). For export logs ]91,3 figures were used. Fire loss is an estimated average including bad years, such as 1910 and 1919. 



Table 10.- 



-Annual growth of saw timber and cordwood in the 

 United States, l)y regions. 



With softwoods the depletion of saw timber is more striking, 

 although tlie cut of small timber is also considerably in excess 

 of its growth. Nearly three-fourths, or 40 billion board feet of 

 the saw timber used and destroyed, comes from softwood for- 

 ests, and about 32 billion feet of it from virgin stands. The 

 total depletion of softwood saw timber is more than 64 times 

 its annual growth of 6 billion feet. 



The enormous excess of depletion over growth of timber is 

 not because of unduly large consumption of timher products. 

 It is due in part to needlessly .large losses from fires and other 

 causes, which to a great extent can be controlled. But it is 

 due most of all to the wasteful methods of cutting and to 

 neglect of cut and burned over forest lands. There are now in 

 the United States about 81,000,000 acres of waste forest land, 

 devastated l>y cutting and by fires, on which nothing of value 

 is growing or likely to grow without a huge expenditure for 

 reforestation. This area is equal to the combined areas of the 

 forest lands of Prance, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, 

 Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal. Besides the waste land 

 there are in the United States approximately 245,000,000 acres 

 bearing second-growth forest. In a large part of this forest, 

 wasteful cutting or excessive grazing have reduced production 



to a mere fraction of what it ]night be with proper handling. 

 To convert such stands into valuable -producing forests will in 

 many cases Involve expenditures as great as though the lands 

 were devastated. 



The area of devastated and partially devastated land is 

 rapidly increasing. Tim'berlands are cut over much more 

 closely now than formerly, with the result that after flres 

 have killed out most of the young growth on logged-off lands 

 there Is little or no chance for reproduction to start. At least 

 5,500,000 acres of merchantable timber are cut over every year. 

 Part of it restocks and part does not. During the period from 

 1915 to 1918 an average of 9,400,'000 acres of forest land was 

 burned over each year, and in years like 1910 and 1919 the 

 acreage was considerably larger. Some of this land restocks 

 and some becomes waste, while the productivity of practically 

 all is reduced. 



POSSIBLE GROWTH. 



If all of this land had been cut over in the first place, with 

 due regard to securing a future stand, and had been protected 

 from fires or excessive gr.azing after cutting, it would now be 

 producing timber at least three times as fast as at present. 

 Judging from the experience of other countries and from re- 

 sults obtained where forests have been carefully treated in our 

 own country, it is believed entirely conservative to assume that 

 the 326 million acres could produce at an average rate of 60 

 cubic feet t)f wood per acre per annum, or, in terms of saw 

 timber, 150 board feet pei- annum. This would mean a total 

 annual growth on the present area of cut-over forest land, in- 

 cluding that now devastated, of 19i billion cubic feet of wood, 

 including 49 billion board feet of saw timber. At the same rate 

 of production for the remaining 137 million acres of virgin 

 forest in which there is now no net increment, our total com- 

 mercial forest area is capable of producing annually, after the 

 virgin timber has been cut off, at least 274 billion cubic feet of 

 wood, including 70 billion board feet of. saw timber. This ex- 

 ceeds our present rate of use and destruction. With a rea- 

 sonable per capita consumption, it would be able to meet in- 

 definitely the needs of our growing population for wood' and 

 other forest products. 



