2 Miscellaneous Circular 15, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



SUGGESTION. 



This circular is the outgrowth of a demand by members of clubs 

 and societies that are pursuing self-culture and current thought, 

 and has been prepared for people who do not have time for ex- 

 haustive study of subjects that are not main objectives in life. No 

 attempt at argument has been made. It is a collection of concise 

 facts in sharp brevity. Those who find it possible to delve deeper, 

 however, will find profitable and interesting reading in any or all 

 of the following Government bulletins. They may be obtained 

 for a nominal sum from, the Superintendent of Documents, Gov- 

 ernment Printing Office, Washington, D. C, or without charge, 

 while the supply lasts, from the District Forester, United States 

 Forest Service. Albuquerque, X. Mex. 



Forests and Forestry in the United States. (Forest Miscellaneous 



Circular.) 

 How the Public Forests are Handled. (Year Book Separate 847.) 

 Wood for the Nation. (Year Book Separate 835.) 

 Timber Depletion and the Answer. (Department Circular 112.) 

 Government Forest Work. (Department Circular 211.) 

 The Sunshine Recreation Ground of a Nation. (Forest and road map 



of Southwest with general information.) 

 The National Forests of Arizona. (Map and folder distributed by 



Forest Service.) 

 The National Forests of New Mexico. (Department Circular 240.) 

 In the Land of the Ancient Cliff Dweller : the Bandelier National Monu- 

 ment. (Miscellaneous Circular 5.) 

 Timber: Mine or Crop? (Yearbook Separate 886.) 



WHO PAYS THE FREIGHT? 



The Nation's lumber shipment in 1920 was about 2.070.000 

 carloads, and the average haul for each carload 485 miles. Accord- 

 ing to the best estimate of the Forest Service, the freight bill on 

 lumber for that year was $275,000,000. A fraction of this sum wisely 

 invested each year in forest protection and rehabilitation would 

 grow timber where it is needed, reduce the Nation's freight bill, 

 cheapen lumber, and release vast amounts of railroad equipment 

 and labor for unavoidable transport. Coal and iron can not be 

 grown, but timber can be. 



STUDY NO. 1. 



AMERICAN FORESTS AND THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. 



What the early colonist found.— When the colonist reached the 

 shores of America he found a vast forest, almost unbroken, from 

 Maine to Florida and westward for an unknown distance. It was 

 composed of hardwoods — oaks, elms, beeches, maples, chestnuts, and 

 hickories; and softwoods or conifers — pines, spruces, and hemlooks. 

 It has been estimated that this great forest _ covered 822,000,000 

 acres, an area 10 times as larsre as New Mexico and 11 times as 

 large as Arizona, and that it contained 5,200,000,000 board feet of 

 timber. 



How the colonist regarded the forests and what he did with 

 them. — The colonist was dependent upon the soil for his living. Very 

 little open land invited his plow. He naturally assumed that the 



