66 Third Annual Eeport of the 



approximately 40,000,000,000 feet, board measure, and that this 

 quantity has decreased until at present there is not over 25,000,- 

 000,000 feet. It is estimated that in 1895 approximately 

 4,000,000,000 feet, or 10 per cent, was owned by the State, while 

 now the stumpage on State land is approximately 14,000,000,000 

 feet, or nearly 50 per cent, of the total in the Forest Preserve 

 counties, or 30 per cent, of the whole stumpage of the State. 

 During this period a change has resulted in the proportion of 

 lumber cut in this section from about 1 per cent, of the stand in 

 1894 to approximately 2 1 L > per cent, at the present time. 



The present system does not best provide a future supply of 

 timber. If the annual increment were utilized it would tend to 

 increase forest preservation by reducing the demands upon other 

 areas. Price is regulated by supply and demand; therefore, de- 

 creased production of timber caused higher prices, and the in- 

 creased price tempts the owner to harvest his forest crop. 



The timber cut of the State is decreasing. It has been reduced 

 from one and one-quarter billion feet in 1908 to less than one 

 billion feet in 1912. The cut of spruce in one of the largest coun- 

 ties has decreased from approximately 24,000,000 in 1910 to less 

 than half that amount in 1912. The present lumber cut of the 

 State is an enforced one. The portable mills are manufacturing 

 what the larger operators are unable to secure. The cut is approx- 

 imately five times as much as the annual growth, and consumption 

 is at least sixteen times the growth. The question of the source of 

 supply of our necessary wood materials is one that must be seri- 

 ously considered. Our demands are great and, under present 

 methods, will soon lead to exhaustion, but if the resources of the 

 State are properly developed the necessary supply can be produced. 



The present use of the Forest Preserve is protective and 

 aesthetic. The practice of proper forestry methods will not affect 

 either use. The lumbering operations under such practice as con- 

 ducted on the parks of Dr. Webb or the Whitney estate are 

 scarcely visible today. These forests have cleaner floors and are 

 freer from debris than similar areas on the State land, in fact 

 such operations have improved the appearance, the dead, down 

 and diseased trees having been removed. 



Only a few people appreciate the fact that nearly all the 



