Why Grow Timber? 
By W.N. SpaRHAWE, Forest Economist, Branch of Research, Forest Service 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
Can we do without timber?_--______ J Modern industry demands ample sup- 
Wood is essential to progress_______ 2 PES ee Se eee eatin Se cals la nee wea 7 
IMoae @xmicyjole oii Clan 2 | Weecan not depend on other countries_ 8 
The United States is the greatest Grow more wood or use less__—-____ 10 
WOOC! CoOMmsbyonerr — 6 | We can grow all the timber that we 
We shall continue to need wood____ G NCC Css fe eS es Ss Nes 11 
CAN WE DO WITHOUT TIMBER? 
Ever since man first picked up a wooden club to kill his prey or to 
ficht his enemies, wood has constituted one of the principal raw ma- 
terials utilized by the human race. As civilization advanced and 
man’s wants multiplhed, more and more wood was needed. It is 
used to-day in larger quantities and in more ways than during any 
previous period in the world’s history. 
Wood is consumed, directly or indirectly, every day by every man, 
woman, and child in the country. The farmer who grows our food 
uses wood for buildings and fences, cultivates and harvests his crops 
with tools and implements most of which have wooden parts, and 
ships his products to market in wooden boxes, barrels, or baskets, 
carried on wagons or trucks built partly of wood, and on railroad 
cars which even though made of steel yet contain some wood and run 
on rails laid on wooden ties. 
Our dwellings are built largely of wood, and wood enters in an 
important way into the construction and furnishing of office build- 
ings, stores, and factories. All of us are constantly using wooden 
furniture, finished with varnish containing turpentine and rosin, 
both forest products. Shoes are made on wooden lasts, of leather 
tanned by wood or bark. Some of the textiles of which clothing is 
made are now manufactured out of wood cellulose. All of them 
are woven with wooden shuttles, and rosin is an essential component 
of the soap with which many of them are laundered. Wood fuel 
cooks the food and heats the homes of millions, and wood is required 
in mining the coal and drilling for the oil which furnish heat and 
power for our industries and transportation systems. 
The automobiles and other vehicles in which we move about and 
transport our goods all contain wood, and the metal used in their 
construction requires wood for its mining, manufacture, and trans- 
portation. Most of our telegraph and telephone lines and a large 
proportion of our electric hght and trolley wires are strung on 
98911°—28 a 
