THE FOREST AS A RESOURCE. 25 



The uses of wood, multifarious now, are con- 

 stantly increasing. With the manufacture of wood 

 pulp and cellulose, an entirely new direction of use 

 has been opened ; originally designed to furnish a 

 cheap substitute for linen paper, its application in 

 many ways is growing daily, and promises for the 

 future the largest drain on our forest resources, 

 the manufacture of wood pulp having increased 

 more than threefold in the last ten years (see 

 Appendix). 



To give briefly an idea of the extent of our own 

 wood consumption, we may say that, if 5 persons 

 are counted to a family, each family in the United 

 States uses on an average about 2000 cubic feet or 

 about 80,000 pounds of dry wood per year, the 

 annual product of at least 50 acres of forest. 



The reasons for this universal and varied appli- 

 cation of wood may be found in several directions. 

 In the first place, the general occurrence of forest 

 growth and the ease with which wood could be 

 obtained and shaped directly to the purpose in 

 hand made it naturally the material of earlier 

 civilizations, but there are certain qualities in 

 addition which will make its use always desirable, 

 if not necessary. In the combination of strength, 

 stiffness, elasticity, and relatively light weight, it 

 excels all other known materials. Not only is a 

 stick of long leaf pine superior in strength to one 

 of wrought iron of the same weight, but employed 

 as a beam it will bear without bending a load six to 



