OUR TIMBER SUPPLY (From U. S. Government Bulletins) AMOUNT AND OWNERSHIP The total amount of standing timber in the United States is close to 2,900 billion board feet. At least 76 per cent of this, or 2,200 billion feet, is privately owned. About 21 per cent, or 600 billion feet, is in the National Forests. About 3 per cent, or 90 billion feet, is in some other form of public ownership-Federal, State, or municipal. The original stand of timber in the United States has been roughly estimated to have been 5,200 billion feet, covering approximately 800,000,000 acres. Fire has destroyed at least as much of this as lumbering has utilized. WHERE IT IS Almost five-elevenths of the country's timber is in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and northern California), where the chief trees are Douglas fir, western red cedar, western yellow pine, sugar pine, larch, and redwood. Of the remaining timber, a little more than half, or about one-fourth of the total supply, is in the Southern pine region (Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Alabama, and parts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Missouri), where the principal trees are longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly pine (all marketed under the name of yellow pine), cypress, and gum, oak, and other hardwoods. The Lake States contain perhaps 100 billion feet of timber, mostly white, jack, and Norway pine, hemlock, balsam, beech, birch, and maple. The Northeastern States are the chief source of supply for spruce, from which most of our paper pulp is made. Most of the National Forests are in the mountains of the West, following in general the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast ranges from Washington, Idaho, and Montana to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. A few are in Arkansas, Florida, Nebraska, Michigan, Minnesota, Alaska, and Porto Rico. States which have set aside forest reserves of their own are California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. ANNUAL CUT The annual cut of sawtimber in the United States is approximately 43 billion feet. At this rate, if there were no new growth, our present timber supply would last about 65 years. Though it contains practically half of all the standing timber in the country, the Pacific Northwest at present furnishes only one-sixth of the annual cut. The southern pine region is the present center of the lumber industry, furnishing about 45 per cent of the annual production, The Lake States, once the center of lumbering, now supply a relatively small amount of timber as compared with the Southeast, and less than the Pacific States. In 1912 the chief lumber-producing States, in the order of their importance, were Washington, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, West Virginia, California, and Florida. Yellow pine furnishes more than 37 per cent of all our lumber, and Douglas fir more than 13 per cent. Washington supplies the most Douglas fir and western red cedar; Louisiana, the most yellow pine, tupelo, and cypress; Mississippi, the most cottonwood; Arkansas, the most hickory and red gum; Wisconsin, the most basswood, birch, and hemlock; Michigan, the most beech, elm, and maple; Minnesota, the most white pine; and West Virginia, the most oak, yellow poplar, and chestnut. The people of the United States use in a normal year about 40 billion feet of lumber; 90,000,000 cords of firewood, 135,000,000 hewn railroad ties, 889,000,000 posts, 3,500,000 telegraph and telephone poles, 1,686,000,000 staves, 136,000,000 sets of heading, 353,000,000 barrel hoops, 3,300,000 cords of native pulp wood, 165,000,000 cubic feet of round mine timbers, and 1,250,000 cords of wood for distillation. The yearly growth of wood in our forests has been estimated to average not more than 12 cubic feet per acre. We are taking out about 36 cubic feet per acre, and are therefore cutting the forests three times as fast as they grow. FUTURE SUPPLY Through the inevitable economic development of the country, the amount of land chiefly valuable for growing forests may be expected to shrink from its present extent of 550,000,000 acres (including farm woodlots) to approximately 450,000,000 acres, or, assuming a population of 150,000,000, to 300 acres for every 100 inhabitants. To maintain our present per capita consumption of 260 cubic feet of wood, however, there would have to be 2,166 acres of forest for every 100 inhabitants, or more than seven times the probable future area. The present forest area is 775 acres for every 100 inhabitants. It meets our own needs only because it still offers a supply of virgin timber, the accumulated capital of centuries, to supply the deficiency. With increasing scarcity as this supply is drawn lower, economy in the use of woods will be forced. As wood becomes more expensive, growing it will become more profitable. Thus eventually a balance between production and consumption will be reached. A supply of wood sufficient for our future needs will be the result of: 1. Reducing the per capita consumption. 2. Protecting the forests from fire. 3. Increasing the annual growth per acre through the practice of forestry. By greater economy in the use of wood the per capita consumption could easily be reduced from the present figure of 260 cubic feet to 150 or even 100 cubic feet without hardship. We use only 50 per cent of the total volume of the tree and leave 50 per cent to be wasted. Forest fires every year destroy, on an average, 12 billion board feet of timber. If the forests were protected there would be just this much more timber available. Protection from fire gives the forests a chance to grow. The aim of forestry is to bring the forest up to its highest state of productiveness and keep it there. In the United States, where forestry is not practical except on Government and State lands, the estimated annual production, as stated before, is 12 cubic feet per acre. In Saxony, where forestry has been practiced for many years, the annual production is 93 cubic feet. If our final forest area of 450,000,000 acres is made to yield an average of 50 cubic feet per acre, as it can by the practice of scientific methods, there will be enough wood for a per capita consumption of 150 cubic feet by 150,000,000 people. THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF GEOGRAPHY. The evolutionary theory, more than hinted at in Kant's "Physical Geography," has, since the writings of Charles Darwin, become the unifying principle in geography. The conception of the development of the plan of the earth from the first cooling of the surface of the planet throughout the long geological periods, the guiding power of environment on the circulation of water and of air, on the distribution of plants and animals, and finally on the movements of man, give to geography a philosophical dignity and a scientific completeness which it never previously possessed. The influence of environment on the organism may not be so potent as it was once believed to be, in the writings of Buckle, for instance, and certainly man, the ultimate term in the series, reacts upon and greatly modifies his environment; yet the fact that environment does influence all distributions is established beyond the possibility of a doubt. ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. THE FIRST BRANCH BANKS One of the provisions of the new banking law of the United States which is expected to have an important bearing on export trade is that which allows national banks, with the permission of the Federal Reserve Board, to establish branches abroad. Before the adoption of this act, it was impossible for national banks to extend their operations outside of the confines of the United States. The nearest approach of branch banks possible would have been the establishment of independent banks abroad with the backing and under the control of stockholders of the national banks. The first national bank to signify its intention of taking advantage of the provisions of the new law is the National City Bank, of New York. On June 30th, the board of directors authorized application be made to the Federal Reserve Board, as soon as that body be organized, for permission to establish branches in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. A week later the bank dispatched two of its responsible employees to inaugurate the work in these two South American cities, so that the branches may be in operation as soon as possible after the necessary permission has been granted by the Gov ernment. In announcing this new policy shortly after the decision had been reached, Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank said: "I wish to emphasize that we intend to render service to the American business men in any direction which it is legitimate for a bank to go. We will have experienced and competent men in the field who will give information as to credits, trade conditions, what the people of this or that locality buy and where they are buying it now." It is anticipated that this departure in American banking practice will be followed by the opening of branches and agencies in other cities, and it is almost certain that other national banks will follow in the footsteps of the National City. Once the new system is in working order it will be possible to finance American shipments without the much-discussed intermediation of European banks. It will be possible also for American banks to afford the exporters of the United States that same assistance in the development of their trade which banks of certain European countries have been rendering their exporters for many years.-[Commercial America.] AN ANNOUNCEMENT The JOURNAL wishes to announce that the editor, Professor R. H. Whitbeck has been granted a leave of absence from his work at the University of Wisconsin until February first, 1915. From October to February he will be with the Historical Division of the Carnagie Institution at Washington, D. C. During this time Professor Lawrence Martin, the Associate Editor, will have the editorial management of the magazine. O read the war news from Europe without understanding the geographical of Central European countries and confusing mass of facts without order or meaning. Back of many of the movements of the various armies are the facts of physical geography. To trace the influence of these geographical factors on the war operations is a most illuminating and interesting exercise for a class in geography. For example, what light does geography throw upon the fact that French territory was so quickly invaded by the Germans and Paris itself threatened in the present war similarly as in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870? Why was not Germany invaded by the French and Berlin threatened? On the other hand, why should Germany find her eastern borders invaded by the Russians, in a manner similar to her own invasions of France? Why was the neutrality of Luxembourg and Belgium violated at the very opening of the war but not Holland's? These, and similar questions, are answered, in part at least, by geography. DISTANCE One of the important geographical features in the war is distance. In the movement of large armies distance to be traveled is a great consideration. The further an army gets from its home headquarters, the greater becomes the problem of transportation of men, ammunition, artillery and food supplies. Long marches, with much fighting, exhausts men and horses and the efficiency of the fighting force becomes lessened. The further an army penetrates an enemy's country, the greater the danger of flank attacks and the cutting off of lines of communication, and consequently the need of superior numbers to keep the rear of the army protected. Long marches require much time and in modern warfare when striking quickly often means sure victory, time is a very important consideration. In the war between France and Germany, Germany has the advantage of distance. From Metz, the strongly fortified city of Germany near the French frontier, the distance to Paris is only about 165 miles in a straight line, but from the French frontier to Berlin the shortest distance is approximately 400 miles. The shortest route from Berlin to Paris passes through Aix la |