THE FOREST AS A RESOURCE. 33 



Of the total value of manufactured products, 

 aggregating nearly $10,000,000,000 worth in the 

 census year 1890, 17 per cent is to be credited to 

 the forest resource, and nearly 20 per cent of the 

 capital invested, of labor employed, and of wages 

 paid in all manufactures. 



In addition to the capital and labor involved in 

 the exploitation of the forest, we have to consider 

 the large but indeterminable amount of labor in- 

 volved in the transportation of the material from 

 points of manufacture, which adds to the eco- 

 nomic importance of these industries in the same, 

 in perhaps greater proportion, than other indus- 

 tries. 



So large is the money value resulting from the 

 mere conversion of the products of our wood- 

 lands that it equals at present annually a 2 per 

 cent dividend on the entire wealth of the nation 

 ($65,000,000,000, according to census in 1890). 

 This dividend, to be sure, is unfortunately largely 

 paid, not from surplusage, but from capital stock, 

 and a future generation will have to make good 

 the deficiency. 



One very important factor often overlooked by 

 laymen in appreciating the economic value of the 

 forest resources of a country is the fact, that it 

 is not wood simply that is wanted, but wood of 

 certain quality useful for given purposes. A 

 country may be well covered with woodlands and 

 yet lack those valuable kinds of woods which lend 



