Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-23

AAuuSIAy' each year product
worth nearly So. 125.O0O.OOO. according to
| the records of the census office.
| The original forests Of the country con-
tanned timber in quantity and variety far
beyond that upon any other area of SINH
| lar size in the world. They covered $780,
WO.0OO acres. with stand of not less than
200, COX, 100000 board feet of merchant
able timber, according to present stand
ards of use. There were five great forest
regions, the Rocky mountain and the Pa
cific and the northern. southern and CEN
trail regions. From the northern forest
came the white pine. spruce. cedar and
several hardwoods. Before clearing be-
gan this forest probably covered 100000
G00 acres and contained not less than
Wu,OO0. 00O.0O board feet. In the south
ern forest was the yellow pine. covering
about 22O,O0o.000 acres and containing as
much standing timber as the northern
forest The central forest was the home
of nearly all the hardwoods such as oak.
chestnut. ash and walnut. and covered
about 2S0,O00,0OO acres with a stand even
greater than was found in the northern
or southern forests The stand of the
Rocky mountain forest was the smallest,
while the area of the Pacific forest was
the smallest. although the stand of timber
in the latter was equal to that or the
largest of the others, being l, OOOO.OOo,-
OCo feet.
These forests once covered A. per cent
of the country. Today our forests cover
| only 20 per cent of the United States. or
800, 0O0.OO0 acres, with a probable stand OF
900. UoO O0O.U00 board feet. The north
ern forest today contains 90,O0O.OW acres.
20 per cent of It's former area; the south
ern forest 15O.0OO,OGO acres. or 6S per cent;
the central forest 130,0oO,oO0 acres. or Az
per cent: the Rocky mountain forest 100,
600 900 acres, or 81 per cent, and the Pa
f,ific forest so thHbfNhb ~ per cent
of it's original acreage.
Forests of today fall into two broad
classifications. forests publicly owned and
forests privately owned. PUB
Forest lie forests include national for
ests, national parks, Indian
0ieoS' reservations, military reserva-
tons. the forests of the unreserved pub
lie domain and state forests. and for the
most part are in the west. They contain
more than 1O0.O00.oOO acres of merchant
able timber with a stand of 4S4.2OO,OOoOO 600
board feet, of which $4,000, 100000 Is in
the national forests.
Private forests are divided into two
classes, farmers woodlots and larger
private holdings. Woodlots contain 300,
600 100000 board feet OF saw timber ana
500 100000 cords Of wood. and cover
about 2OO.COOOO acres. of which % per
cent is east of the plains. Woodlots are
scattered patches of original forest. from
which the best timber has been cut, but
which are made to yield fuel posts. rails
and wood for other domestic purposes.
OF the larger private forests the 1,IOO,-
OOO0OO.OOO feet Of timber which they con-
tain is the most valuable in the country.
although forestry is practiced on less
than l per cent of the area thus covered.
Trees grow slowly, comparatively
speaking. From Seventy-flve to one nun
dred years is necessary for twenty or our
important trees to reach stage ut Tor
the saw Some, however. such as the
white ash. Douglas and other frs. if the
locality is favorable. will reach the
proper condition for saving inside of
thirty to seventy years. Under present
conditions chestnut. red and black oak
four to eight inches in diameter in from
fifteen to thirty years. The time re-
CURED to grow a railroad tie is from thir-
ty-five years for red gum to one hundred
and fifty years for white cedar.
We take from our forests each year. in
GLIDING waste in logging and in manu-
facture, 2O,OOO.O 100000 cubic feet of wood.
This goes, partly. TO produce the W,OO.- :
GOO cords of firewood. 4O,OOOoOO,OOO board
feet of lumber. 11S,0OO,WO hewn ties,
1 900, 600 900 slaves. LIB 600, 600 odd sets of
heading, 50ONN,oOG barrel hoops, 1000.
600 cords of native pulp wood 1865 OOOOO
cubic feet of round mine timberS and
1,2JO, 900 cords CT wood for distillation
which is consumed in an average year.
Firewood comes principally from farm
ers' woodlots, although part comes from
immature trees. Lumber
Forest and shingles are usually
made from large timber
4IOOuCCS. nf HIGH u,Ialjfy being
made in commercial quantities from
thirty kinds of trees. of which softwoods
furnish 81 and hardwoods % per cent,
Southern pine furnishes more than 30 per
cent of our lumber, Douglas fir about II
white pine 10, oak 3 and hemlock more
than s per cent In 1907 Washington
came first in the amount of lumber cut
furnishing "a per cent; Louisiana second
with "A per cent; Texas third, with %
per cent, and Mississippi. Wisconsin and
Arkansas together with ! per cent. Such
figures as these, however, do not con-
tinue for many years in succession. The
center of the lumber supply shifts con-
stantly, one region Is cut over ana
another is attacked Consequently, the
changes which occur in the output by
states are striking Michigan. for instance.
supplied 23 per cent of the lumber output
in 1850 and A. per cent in 1907 Wash
ingtOn on the other hand. yielded less
than I per cent in 1880. but headed the
list in 1907.
Telephone. telegraph and electric light
and traction companies each year use be-
tween three and four million poles in vari-
Gus lengths above twenty feet. Three
fifths of these are white cedar, cut chiefly
i'm the lake states and over one-fOurth is
chestnut Paper and pulp mills use more
than 3.OOOOOO cords of native wood each
year and import more than 100000 cords
from Canada. Nearly three-fifths of the
native pulp wood is spruce, cut mostly In
northeas stern states. and one-fifth Is hem
lock. which comes chiefly from Pennsylva-
MIA and Wisconsin Nearly all wood used
for distillation is beech, birch and maple
One of the greatest causes of the de-
crease in timber Is waste. and waste is
caused by fire, careless methods of log
ging and turpentining, waste in the mill
and in the use of the wood. Forest hres
have destroyed many billion feet of COM
mercial timber. They have driven the
forest from vast areas, upon Whlcn the
actual planting of trees will be needed be-
fore the forest will return to them. They
have destroyed or injured young growth
whose value is much more than that OF
the timber burned They have changed
greatly for the worse the quality and COM
position of existing forests. To them Is
due far more than to the waSte1ul log
cling which they have usually followed.