22 



THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE- WORLD. 



ANNUAL GROWTH AND CUT. 



The cut in the state forests for 1897 amounted to 25,737,000 cubic 

 feet, or 0.74 cubic foot per acre. In the northern forests the cut per 

 acre was only 0.43 cubic foot, while in the rest of the forests there was 

 cut as much as 3.44 cubic feet per acre. Of the total cut, 7,837,000 

 cubic feet formed cord wood. 



In the 20,382,500 acres of private forest there was cut approxi- 

 mately 343,000,000 cubic feet each year, or about 17 cubic feet per 

 acre. 



The annual growth per acre for all the forests in the country can 

 be considered as about 19.8 cubic feet per acre. From these figures 

 it can be seen that while in the state forests the cut is considerably 

 below the annual growth, in private forests the annual growth is only 

 a trifle more than the cut. 



CONSUMPTION 



The total cut in both private and state forests may be estimated at 

 between 369,000,000 and 379,000,000 cubic feet each year. The 

 exports amounted to about from 132,000,000 to 142,000,000 cubic 

 feet, which, deducted from the total cut, Vv^ould leave about 237,000,000 

 cubic feet for home consumption, or 91. ,5 cubic feet per inhabitant. 



WOOD PRICES. 



The statistical yearbooks of Finland give the prices of finished 

 sawed lumber. Below are the prices for the period between 1886 and 

 1897, per cubic foot of sawed boards: 



Cents. 



1886 9.5 



1887 11.1 



1888 9.7 



1890 14.7 



1891 11.8 



1892 12.6 



Cents. 



1893 12.8 



1894 12. 8 



1895 -. 12.2 



1896 12.6 



1897 13.4 



SWEDEN. 



EOREST AREA. 



Up to 1897 Sweden was in the lead of all countries exporting tim- 

 ber. In 1898, however, the exports began to lag behind those from 

 Austria-Hungary, which at that time began to increase enormously. 



The lumber industry of Sweden is comparatively young and has 

 grown up in, perhaps, the last forty years. The country is very rich 

 in forests, but the bulk of them lie in the north, and on account of 

 lack of roads are not easily accessible. It is only with the building 

 of railroads that the present exploitation of the northern forests 

 became possible. The driving of logs in the little streams of the 

 north offers great difficulties, but still these streams are used exten- 

 sively for this purpose in the same way as are those of Maine and 

 northern New York. 



The distribution of forests by provinces, the forest area, and the 

 area per capita are shown by Table 6. 



