Among the 16 major manufacturing industries, this group ranks fourth on 

 the basis of number of wage earners employed. Persons employed in the 

 20 branches of forest-products manufacturing total nearly a million. In 

 addition, the making of paper goods, pulp, rayon and allied products, wood 

 distillation, and charcoal manufacturing employ more than 200,000 persons. 



In foreign countries. — In European countries, where many forests have been 

 for a long time under sustained-yield management — growing as much or 

 more than is cut — there is even a greater proportionate employment in 

 forestry and forest industries. In Denmark 750,000 acres of forests furnish 

 employment equivalent to full-time work for about 6,000 persons and con- 

 siderably more part-time work for those who spend most of their remaining 

 time at work on farms. In Sweden the forests furnish employment for some 

 90,000 workers. 



The figures for England are interesting, because they show the increase in 

 amount of employment as forests develop from the planting stage to full 

 growth. The British Forestry Commission estimates that, on the average, 

 forests in the planting stage require one full-time worker for 100 acres but 

 in the older productive state one worker is required to 50 acres. 



An unending supply of labor. — The forest offers a great reservoir of work. 

 This has been demonstrated by the Civilian Conservation Corps and emer- 

 gency relief employment agencies of the United States. In the first 6 years 

 of operations by the C. C. C. about 2 million boys and men were employed 

 on forestry and park projects. Previous to 1936, forest work as a means of 

 occupation for the unemployed had been used in several States, notably 

 California, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and 

 New York. 



Why Are Farm Forests Likely to Increase in Importance? 



Farm woodlands ', a forest resource. — The remote and vast forests often attract 

 so much attention that the little forests known as farm woodlands are com- 

 pletely overlooked. These small forests are on 4}i million farms scattered 

 in every part of the country where trees will grow. Together they contain 

 185 million acres or an area equal to one-half the cultivated land and one- 

 third the total forest land. The fact that the farm forest needs no annual 

 planting and cultivation and that the timber may be harvested in the winter 

 makes it fit well into the general farm program. Then, too, a forest crop 

 may be grown on land too poor for other crops. With the depletion of 

 virgin timber in many areas, the nearby wood-using industries are turning 

 to the farmers for raw materials. 



The farmer, a -producer of forest products. — Most of the farm woodlands are in 

 the eastern part of the United States relatively near the great wood-using 

 and wood-importing regions. A nearby market is a distinct advantage in 

 farm timber production. The fact that the price of logs has remained rela- 

 tively higher than other farm products in comparison to pre-war levels also 

 points to possibilities in farm timber production. 



Farmers sell about 190 million dollars worth of timber and related prod- 

 ucts per year. One-third of the timber of all kinds comes from farm wood- 

 lands. The best quality logs bring the highest prices for veneer. The next 

 best bring most when sold as sawlogs to be cut into lumber. Sawlogs and 

 veneer logs now cut on farms amount to more than a billion board feet 

 annually. The next grade of logs is most valuable as pulpwood to be 



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