Forestry

Science of producing, maintaining, and advantageously utilizing forests, including their principal and byproducts. It includes forest utilization, protection, working plans, sylva culture, valuation, laws, and policy. Government forestry service is best exemplified in Germany, where the object desired is the benefit of the whole nation. In Pru ia there is a thoroughly-organized service of 4,500 trained and officered men, the country being ing separated into forestry divisions. Nearly all European countries give attention to the subject. In U.S. little has yet been done. The U. S. Government has made forest reservations of 17,564,800 acres, but these and other government timber lands have little protection from fires and timber thieves. The total area of wooded land in Europe is estimated at ab. 770 million acres, 31 per cent of area, 2.5 acres per capita; in U. S. there are 450 million acres; 17 per cent of area, 7.6 acres per capita. The annual consumption of forest timber in U. S. is ab. 22 billion cubic feet, of which 18 billion is as fuel, 3 billion for lumber, 600 million for railroad construction, 500 million for fences, and 250 million for charcoal. The value of exports of wood, raw and manufactured, is $27,000,000, and of naval stores, products of pine forests, $7,300,000. The annual value of forest products in U. S. is approximately $1,000,000, 000.