ORGANIZATION OF THE FOREST SERVICE. GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester. OVERTON W. PRICE, A88ociate Forester. P. P. WELLS, Law Officer. HERBERT A. SMITH, Editor. GEORGE B. SUDWORTH, Dendrologist. Operation-JAMES B. ADAMS, Assistant Forester, in Charge. Maintenance-HERMON C. METCALF, Chief. Accounts-GEORGE E. KING, Chief. Organization-C. S. CHAPMAN, Chief. CLYDE LEAVITT, Assistant Chief. Engineering-W. E. HERRING, Chief. Lands-GEORGE F. POLLOCK, Chief. Silviculture-WILLIAM T. Cox, Assistant Forester, in Charge. Silvics-RAPHAEL ZON, Chief. W. G. WEIGLE, Assistant Chief. Grazing-ALBERT F. POTTER, Assistant Forester, in Charge. Products-WILLIAM L. HALL, Assistant Forester, in Charge. Wood Preservation-CARL G. CRAWFORD, Chief. [Cir. 129] (2) ILLUSTRATIONS. FIGURE 1. Forest products, 1906-- 2. Lumber production by kinds, 1906_. 3. Lumber production by States, 1906_ Page. 678 8 4. Comparison of the relative production of lumber by nine States 9 5. Hardwood and softwood lumber production, 1906__. 11 6. Lumber production of the United States, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1906_ 13 15 8. Ratio of State and National Forests to private and unreserved 15 [Cir. 129] (4) THE DRAIN UPON THE FORESTS. Every American who is abreast of current affairs is aware that the forests of the country are being cut down much faster than they are growing, but few have any very definite idea of just how much more wood is being cut than is being produced, nor of how long it may be, under present conditions and methods, before certain woods, now abundant, will be used up. Such information is not easy to obtain, and it is impossible to give more than estimates of the yearly growth. The charts and data given in this circular are based upon statistics of forest products in 1906, compiled by the Bureau of the Census and the Forest Service, with the exception of those upon mine timbers, which were collected by the Forest Service and the Geological Survey for the year 1905. THE KNOWN DRAINS. Figure 1 shows the output of forest products in 1906, all classes being reduced to equivalent board feet for more ready comparison. Roughly, three times as much timber is used for lumber as for all the other items combined. Next to lumber come shingles, requiring 6.3 per cent as much timber as is used for lumber; hewed cross-ties require approximately the same amount. Domestic pulpwood takes 4.3 per cent as much timber as is used for lumber, and in addition large quantities of pulpwood are imported. Cooperage stock and round mine timbers require approximately equal quantities of timber; lath take 2 per cent, wood used for distillation 1.7 per cent, veneer 0.9 per cent, and poles 0.6 per cent of the quantity used for lumber. The total quantity of timber used annually for lumber and the other products mentioned above is equivalent to approximately 50 billion board feet. LUMBER. The cut of lumber by species in 1906 is shown in figure 2. Yellow pine is far in the lead, furnishing 31.1 per cent of the total amount. Douglas fir comes second, with 13.2 per cent; white pine third, with 12.2 per cent; hemlock fourth, with 9.4 per cent; and oak fifth, with 7.5 per cent. Spruce and western pine furnish 4.4 per cent and 3.7 [Cir. 129] per cent, respectively. These seven kinds of timber furnish over four-fifths of the total, and no other kind reaches one billion feet of lumber annually. Under lumber is included sawed railroad crossties. The three kinds of lumber which are most largely exported are yellow pine, redwood, and Douglas fir, the first going principally to Europe and the others most largely to Australia, the Orient, and BILLIONS OF BOARD FEET South America. In 1906 the exportations of yellow pine amounted to about 8 per cent of the total cut of yellow pine lumber, that of redwood to over 6 per cent, and that of Douglas fir to nearly 8 per cent of the cut. Considering all kinds, the exports of hewed and sawed timber and lumber amounted to about 5 per cent of the total lumber production in 1906. The lumber cut by States in 1906 is shown in figure 3. Washington leads, with 11.5 per cent; Louisiana is second, with 7.4 per cent; |