Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1874 — Timber Lands [ARTICLE]

Timber Lands

Few persons have any idea of the immense extent of land required to grow trees for building and other purposes. In Europe alone 500,000,000 acres of land are devoted to woodland. Norway and Sweden have about 80,000,000 of acres covered with trees. Indigenous to the- country are Norway spruce, fir, maple, Scotch pine, and beech. The introduction of foreign I trees has been attended with success, and the oak, pine, and walnut ai*e reported as grbwing^^tovery fair dimensions. Spain and Portugal, though their woods are little known i in commerce, set apart about 6,000,000 acres for tree-growing. Germany has taken better care of hqr forests than other nations, and has replenished her wood lands with fresh stock. In the 50,000,000 . acres of timber growing land, she i possessed nearly all the important . varieties of wood which are found. !To Italy we arc indebted for very ' excellent walnut, but her 5,000,000 i acres also produce fir, pine, oak, and poplar. Neither Turkey nor Greece are of much importance as ■ wood-producing countries, but that ■ they might be is gathered from the ; fact that they have 10,000,000 ; acres under forest cultivation— Denmark, producing.oak, Norway spruce, fir, etc., has 500,000 acres of woodland. Although Russia has no sound system of forestry, she has ‘300,(100,000 acres devoted to timber cultivation. As to British North America, no one can form anything like an accurate estimate ' of its enormous* wealth of timber. Jt is roughly computed that there are 900,000,000 acres occupied by j timber, or an extent equal to the whole of England a dozen times told. In the large forests of British Colurribia are found firs reaching 300 feet in height. Tbe United I

' States possess 560,900,000 acres of land. The great influx of popula- | tion has led to wanton waste, and the time is not remote when the loss will be severely felt. — Inter Ocean.