THE CULTIVATED FORESTS OF EUROPE. 1 85 



almost half the annual yield consists of thinnings. He says : "With an average 

 stand of 2,800 cubic feet per acre, the annual yield of wood, almost half of which 

 is from thinnings alone, reached last year 377,023 cubic feet, an amount which may 

 be taken as slightly above the average."* None of this material from thinnings 

 goes to waste. In short, all the products of the forests of southern Europe find 

 ready utilization. 



Tl>e Aari^ef. 



This thorough utilization of the forest product is due to the good market, dis- 

 tribution of population, low wages and good roads. The effect of the market is 

 everywhere apparent in the great economy of wood. In the hotels heat is a luxury 

 for which guests are often required to pay an extra charge. In the wayside inn 

 a bucket of hot ashes placed in the center of the room is often the only fireplace 

 around which' the smokers can hold their cheerful converse, while at night the bed 

 is made ready for its occupant by a pan of coals hung beneath a chair placed 

 under the blankets. 



The houses in the villages, and even those of the workmen in the forest, are 

 seldom constructed of wood. Walls of plaster or cement, with only sufficient 

 wood to hold the material in place, are the rule, though houses of brick and stone 

 are also quite common. The floors are very frequently made of stone, while the 

 roof is rarely made of shingles, tile or iron being used instead. Wooden fences, 

 plank sidewalks and block pavements are very uncommon. 



In Germany, where forestry has been practiced for centuries, and where the art 

 has had its highest development, the forests, which cover one fourth of the entire 

 land area, fall far short of furnishing the country its timber requirement. In 1902 

 Germany imported logs and lumber to the value of $21,991,200.! 



Consul Henry W. Diederich, in his report dated Bremen, 1901, writes as follows 

 concerning the demand for lumber in Germany: "The demand for lumber is 

 steadily increasing, and it is utterly out of the question for Germany to ever 

 supply that demand. In spite of all the high import duties placed on all foreign 

 woods, which average 28 cents for every 210 pounds of rough timber or logs, 

 and $1.15 for every 210 pounds, or 1 cubic meter, of dressed timber, Germany 

 has been unable to materially increase her forestry supply. In the year 1899 

 there were imported into Germany not less than 353,160,000 cubic feet of timber. 

 During the same period Germany's own production amounted to from 565,056,000 to 



* Publication of the American Economic Association. Vol. VI, No. 3, May, 1891. "Govern- 

 ment Forestry Abroad," by Gifford Pinchot. 



+ Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Countries, 1903. Vol. I, p. 413. 

 Report of U. S. Consul-General Frank H. Mason, Berlin. 



