6 MISC. PUBLICATION 26, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
THE UNITED STATES IS THE GREATEST WOOD CONSUMER 
The timber requirements of the United States are far greater than 
those of any other country. Abundant forests, rapid growth of 
population, settlement of rich agricultural regions where other build- 
ing materials were not available or were more difficult to obtain, 
tremendous development of transportation facilities, and expansion 
in volume and variety of manufacturing industries, all have con- 
tributed toward swelling our timber consumption. The rate of 
increase was especially rapid during the 50-year period preceding the 
World War. More recently, the growing scarcity and the increasing 
cost of timber, the halt in expansion of agriculture, and the cessation 
in railroad building have resulted in a decrease in the amount of 
timber used. But even though this decrease were to be permanent, 
the United States would still be using more saw timber than all other 
countries together, and more than two-fifths of the world’s con- 
sumption of timber of all kinds. 
Seven-tenths of the timber originally within the present bound- 
aries of the United States has been consumed or destroyed, and such 
growth as has come in on cut-over lands is greatly inferior in quality 
to this virgin timber. Regions which were once abundantly sup- 
pled, such as the greater part of the Northeastern States, the Lake 
States, and parts of the Southeastern States, have been left practi- 
cally destitute of high-grade timber. The end of virgin pine in the 
Southern States is “definitely in sight, while already the younger 
timber is being cut as fast as it grows. Two-thirds of the remain- 
Ing virgin timber and approximately one-half of all the merchant- 
able timber in the countr y is concentrated in the forests of the Pacific 
Northwest, which now supply more than one-third of our entire 
lumber cut. 
WE SHALL CONTINUE TO NEED WOOD 
Of course we can use other materials for many purposes for which 
wood is used. We have been doing so for a long time, but especially 
during the past few years. Wood “for fuel has been largely replaced 
by coal, gas, or ol, except in rural districts remote from these sup- 
plies. The use of ‘steel and cement is increasing at an exceedingly 
rapid rate. Wooden houses are being torn down and replaced by 
brick and concrete. Asbestos, copper, iron, and various other ma- 
terials are taking the place ‘of wooden shingles. Steel wire has 
almost supplanted wooden rails for fences, and iron and concrete are 
encroaching upon the use of wood for posts. Office furniture is being 
made of steel. Steel barrels are taking the place of oak for many 
purposes. Wooden ships, bridges, and railroad cars are rapidly 
becoming obsolete. 
Several factors which tend to offset this substitution are, however, 
often overlooked. Even if per capita consumption should fall as 
low as present European standards, the increase in population which 
is hkely to take place during the next 50 years will maintain our 
total timber requirements at a level little, if any, below our present 
timber consumption. 
Then, too, it should be remembered that the production or utiliza- 
tion of the substitutes themselves often requires wood. Practically 
