18 
track, would require a forest area of 235,714 acres, and 5,000 miles of 
new road annually built would require an area of 44,000 acres to be 
cut over for railroad construction, in all amounting to 2,797,140 acres 
in one decade alone. Although. 300 ties per acre may be considered 
too high an average for a large portion of the forests of the United 
States, which have been culled for the best tie-timber for many years 
past, yet it can be readily seen that with a smaller average per acre, a 
inuch greater area will necessarily be cut over each year. If the fre- 
quent estimate of 100 ties per acre be taken, the area drawn upon an- 
nually will be 839,142 acres, and the necessary reserve for ten years 
will be 8,391,420 acres. 
On the other hand, assuming an average yield per acre of 3,000 cubic 
feet of " dimension" timber and lumber, together with 500 telegraph 
poles per acre, the area needed for yearly maintenance will be, for,— 
Acres. 
"Dimension " timber and lumber 12, 500 
Telegraph poles 1. 000 
13, 500 
And adding area necessary for ties „ 235, 714 
We have a total of 249,214 
to serve the maintenance of our railways. 
The area needed for annual new construction would appear to be : 
Acres . 
Ties 44, 000 
1 ' Dimension " timber and lumber 3, 333 
Telegraph poles 300 
47, 663 
RECAPITULATION.* 
Acres. 
Annual maintenance of 187,500 miles of track, with 137,615 miles of telegraph 
lines, requires „ 249,214 
Annual new construction of 5,000 miles g 47,633 
Total 296,847 
Quality of timber required.— The speed and weight of railway traffic 
demand unconditionally the selection of the best timber. The neces- 
sity of imbedding the cross-ties in earth ballast, by which a constant 
process of decomposition of the woody fiber is induced, requires the 
* This appears rather as a hand-to-mouth calculation, which does not take into 
consideration the continuous existence of the railroads and of their requirements of 
wood supplies. Calculating upon present conditions, which require the production 
of wood at the rate of more than 500,000,000 cubic feet of round timber annually, it 
would be necessary to arrive at some idea of what forest area could produce such an 
amount continually as its accretion. A yearly average production of 50 cubic feet 
per acre for large areas, with a long period of time and tolerably well-stocked forest, 
can be assumed as a reasonable result. From this it would appear, that to supply 
continuously the present demand of wood for railway construction would necessitate 
a reserve of not less than 100,000,000 acres of well-stocked thrifty forest,— B. E. F, 
