52 THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE WORLD. 



ANNUAL CUT AND GROWTH. 



Unfortunately there are no reliable figures concerning the amount 

 of annual cut. K. von Scherzer*^ estimated the cut in Holland and 

 Belgium at 37 cubic feet per acre. Judging by the revenues obtained 

 in the Belgian forests, the Dutch forests must yield a larger amount 

 of wood per acre, at least 46 cubic feet. In that case the total cut 

 would amount to 28,591,000 cubic feet. This figure may also be 

 accepted as the annual growth, since the forests are managed for a 

 sustained yield. 



CONSUMPTION. 



The annual yield is not sufficient to supply the home consumption. 

 Holland is a highly commercial nation, but its industries are less de- 

 veloped than those of Belgium, and hence its wood consumption is 

 smaller. Holland uses enormous quantities of coal and turf, and 

 therefore does not use much wood for fuel, but it needs large quanti- 

 ties of timber for building purposes. The surplus average of imports 

 of round timber over exports for five years (1895-1899) was about 

 24,875,000 cubic feet, and that of sawed timber for the same period, 

 13,757,000 cubic feet, or in all 38,632,000 cubic feet. Adding to this 

 the annual cut at home (28,591,000 cubid feet), the total consumption 

 in Holland would be about 67,200,000 cubic feet, or, with a popula- 

 tion of 5,100,000, 13.1 cubic feet per capita. Even assuming that 50 

 per cent of the total cut is cord wood, still the consumption of cord 

 wood would form only 2.8 cubic feet, while the consumption of tim- 

 ber and lumber would be 10.3 cubic feet per capita. 



WOOD PRICES. 



Except the general import prices per cubic foot as they are obtain- 

 able by dividing the total value of imports by their volume, no other 

 wood prices are available. The general import price for round tim- 

 ber was about 14 cents per cubic foot, and that of sawed timber 

 about 18 cents. 



SWITZERLAND. 



FOREST AREA. 



The Swiss forests occupy 20.6 of the total land area of 10,237,560 

 acres, or 2,140,012 acres, while in 1884 the forest area amounted 

 to only 1,940,465 acres. In other words, the forest area has increased 

 10 per cent during the last fifteen years. The Government recog- 

 nizes the necessity of keeping the mountain slopes covered with for- 

 ests in order to avoid landslides, and therefore extends the area under 

 forest by all possible means, chiefly by planting. Between 1878 and 

 1890, 10,000,000 conifers and 1,000*000 broadleaf trees were planted on 

 an average every year, or a total area of 4,153 acres, at a cost of 

 $22.25 per acre. Since 1890 the planting has been done every year 

 regularly on an increased scale. In 1899 about 14,000,000 pine seed- 

 lings, 2,000,000 spruce, 1,200,000 larch, and 1,400,000 fir and other 

 trees were planted. The forest area per capita is 0.67 acre. 



Of the total forest area, the States own 97,630 acres, or 4.6 per cent; 



o Das wirthschaftliche Leben der Volker. 



