Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-07-07
TIMBER SUPPLY.
Annual Consumption and Waste in
the United states.


'We are now cutting timber from the
500 feet board measure a year for every
man. woman and child. In Europe they
use only sixty board feet
Few statements could be made which
would better convince the average man
that this country leads the world in the
demand for timber. IT is made by Trad
well Cleveland, jr., in a circular which
treats OF the conservation of the forests,
soil, water aad all the other great natural
resources, published by the United States
forest service. In speaking further of the
consumption of timber in this country,
Mr.. Cleveland says;
"At this rate, in less than thirty years
cut Meantime, the forests which have
been cut over are generally in bad way
for want Of care; they will produce only
inferior second growth. We are clearly
over the verge of timber famine.
This is not due to necessity, for the
forests are one OF the renewable resources.
Rightly used, they go on producing crop
after crop indefinitely. The countries of
Europe know this. and Japan knows it,,
and their forests are becoming with time
not less, but more, productive. We
prooa bly, still possess sufficient forest land
to grow wood enough at home to supply
our own needs. If we are not blind or
our forest independence and, with it, the
fourth of our great industries.
present wastes in lumber production
are enormous. Take the case of yellow
pine. which now heads the list in the vol
ume of annual cut. IL 1907 it is esti-
mated that only one-half of all the yell
low pine cut during the season was used.
and that the other half, amounting to s.
900. 900 cords, was wasted. Such waste is
typical. r. A. Long has pointed out that
twenty per cent. Of the yellow pine was
simply left in the woods-a waste which
represents the timber growing on 10000
acres.
1.-THE rest of the waste takes place at the
mill. OF course, it would never do to
speak of the material rejected at the mill
as waste unless this material could be
turned to use by some better and more
thorough form of utilization. But in
many cases we know, and in many other
cases we have excellent reason to believe,
that most, if not all of this mat erial, could
be used with profit. 1t is simply ques-
tion of intelligent Investigation and, more
than all, of having the will to economic.
''But there are other ways to conserve
the forests besides cutting in half the pres
ent waste OF forest products. The forests
can be made to produce three or four
times as rapidly as they do at present.
This is true Of both the virgin forests and
cut-over lands. Virgin forests are often
fully stocked with first-class timber, but
this stock has been laid in very slowly, on
is account OF the wasteful competition
which is carried on constantly between
the rival trees.
Then, too, in the virgin forests there are
very many trees which have reached ma
turity and stopped growing, and these
occupy space which, if held by younger
trees, would be laying in new stock con-
stantly. As regards the cut-over land,
severe cutting, followed by fire. has
checked growth so seriously that in most
cases reproduction is both poor and slow,
while in many other cases there is no true
forest reproduction at all at present, and
there is but little hope for the future"