INSULAR POSSESSIONS OF THE UNITED STATES-Continued. but these resources are very undeveloped. There are salt works at Guanica and Salina on the south coast, and at Cape Rojo on the west, and these constitute the principal mineral industry in Porto Rico. The principal cities are Mayaguez, with 16,939, Ponce, 35,027 inhabitants; and San Juan, the capital, with 48,716. The shipments of domestic merchandise from the United States to Porto Rico, year ending June 30, 1914, were $31,754,695. The exports of domestic merchandise to the United States were $34,423,180, The foreign trade, year ending June 30, 1914, was: Imports, $3,838,419: exports, $8,679,582. An act providing for a civil government for Porto Rico was passed by the Fifty-sixth Congress and received the assent of the President April 12, 1900. A statement of its provisions was printed in THE WORLD ALMANAC for 1901, pages 92 and 93. President Roosevelt in his message to Congress in December, 1906, recommended the granting of United States citizenship to the Porto Ricans, and a bill was introduced in the Sixty-second Congress providing for the same, but falled to reach a final vote. Under this act a civil government was established, which went into effect May 1, 1900. There are two legislative chambers, the Executive Council, or 'upper house," composed of the Government Secretary, Attorney-General, Treasurer, Auditor, Commissioner of the Interior, and Commissioner of Education, and five citizens appointed by the President, and the House of Delegates, or lower house," consisting of 35 members, elected by the people. The island is represented in the Congress of the United States by a Resident Commissioner. The Legislature of 1912 enacted a sanitation law establishing an insular board of health, and a general sanitary organization, provided a bureau of labor, and authorized investment by the treasurer of $200,000 in first mortgage bonds of a corporation to be organized for the construction of a modern hotel in San Juan. It also authorized a bond issue of $500,000 in connection with port improvements at San Juan. The Legislature of 1913 provided for the retirement on pay of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the island after ten years' service, and upon reaching 65 years of age, and ordered the establishment of an insular hospital in each of the seven districts in which the island is divided, for those suffering from transmissible and contagious diseases. QUAM. The island of Guam, the largest of the Mariana Archipelago, was ceded by Spain to the United States by Article 2 of the Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris, December 10, 1898. It lies in a direct line from San Francisco to the southern part of the Philippines, and is 5,044 miles from San Francisco and 1,506 miles from Manila. It is about 30 miles long and 100 miles in circumference, and has a population of 12,517. The inhabitants are mostly immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the Philippines, the original race of the Mariana Islands being nearly extinct. The prevailing language is English. Spanish and Chamorro are also spoken. Nine-tenths of the islanders can read and write. The island is thickly wooded, well watered, and fertile, and possesses an excellent harbor. The productions are tropical fruits, cacao, rice, corn, tobacco, and sugar cane. The island of Guam was discovered by Hernando de Magallanes on March 6, 1521. The island was captured by the U.S.S. Charleston, Captain Henry Glass commanding, June 21, 1898, the American flag raised over Fort Santa Cruz, and a salute fired. Later the island was made a naval station, and Commander E. D. Taussig, of the U. S. S. Bennington, took possession February 1, 1899. The Governor is a naval officer, and the island has a marine garrison as well as a station ship. During the year ending June 30,1914: imports, from Saipan, 86,106.37; Japan, $37.924.25; China, $5,918.33; Germany, $663.19; England, 842.80; Philippines, $24,114.10; Hawaii, 12,511.84; United States, $77,929, 99, Total, $165,210.15. Exports, to Saipan, lumber, $1,342.40; Manila, potatoes, $15.00; Manila, coffee, $142.11; Manila, copra, $4,055.26; Japan, copra, 845,537.45. Total, 851,092.22. TUTUILA (AMERICAN SAMOA). Tutulla, the Samoan island which, with its attendant islets of Manu'a, Olosega, Ofu, Aunuu and Rose, became a possession of the United States by virtue of the tri-partite treaty with Great Britain and Germany in 1899, covers, according to the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce, fifty-five square miles, and has (by census of February 1, 1912) 7,251 inhabitants. It possesses the most valuable island harbor, Pago-Pago, in the South Pacific, and perhaps in the entire Pacific Ocean. Commercially the island is unimportant at present, but is extremely valuable in its relations to the commerce of any nation desiring to cultivate trans-Pacific commerce, Ex-Chief Justice Chambers, of Samoa, says of Pago-Pago that The harbor could hold the entire naval force of the United States, and is so perfectly arranged that only two vessels can enter at the same time. The coaling station, being surrounded by high bluffs, cannot be reached by shells from outside. Capacity of coaling station, 4,200 tons. The Samoan Islands, in the South Pacific, are fourteen in number, and lie in a direct line drawn from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand. Tutuila is 4,160 miles from San Francisco, 2, 263 miles from Hawaii, 1,580 miles from Auckland, 2,354 miles from Sydney, and 4,200 miles from Manila. The inhabitants are native Polynesians and Christians of different denominations. The civil government is administered by a Governor, a naval officer nominated by the Navy Department and appoluted by the President. All civil affairs are under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department. WAKE AND OTHER ISLANDS. The United States flag was hoisted over Wake Island on July 4, 1898, by General F. V. Greene, commanding 2d Detachment Philippine Expedition. It is a small island in the direct route from Hawail to Hongkong, about 2,000 miles from the first and 3,000 miles from the second. The United States possesses a number of scattered small islands in the Pacific Ocean, some hardly more than rocks or coral reefs, over which the flag has been hoisted from time to time. They are of little present value and mostly uninhabited. The largest are Christmas, Gallego, Starbuck, Penrhyn, Phoenix, Palmyra, Howland, Baker, Johnston, Gardner, Midway, Morell, and Marcus islands. The Midway Islands are occupied by a colony of telegraphers in charge of the relay in the cable line connecting the Philippines with the United States, in all about forty persons. The Santa Barbara group is a part of California and the Aleutian chain, extending from the penInsular of Kamchatka in Asiatic Russia to the promontory in North America which separates Bering Sea from the North Pacific, a part of Alaska, ·Farmers' National Congress. INSULAR POSSESIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, -Continued. HAWAII. Hawaii was annexed to the United States by joint resolution of Congress July 7, 1898. A bill to create Hawaii a Territory of the United States was passed by Congress and approved April 30, 1900, The area of the several islands of the Hawaiian group is as follows: Hawaii, 4,210 square miles: Maui, 760; Oahu, 600; Kauai, 590; Molokai, 270; Lanai, 150; Niihau, 97; Kahoolawe, 63. Total, 6,740 square miles. At the time of the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook in 1778 the native population was about 200,000. This has steadily decreased, so that at the census of 1910 the native born numbered but 98.157. Total foreign born (1910), 93, 752. The first United States census of the islands was taken in 1900 with the following result: Hawalf Island, 46,843; Kauai Island, 20,562; Niihau Island, 172; Maui Island, 25.416; Molokai Island and Lanai Island. 2,504; Oahn Island, 58.504. Total of the Territory, 154, 001. The population of the city of Honolulu was 39,306. The population of Hawaii according to the 1910 census, made by the United States Census Bureau, was 191,909, Honolulu City having a population of 52,183. POPULATION OF HAWAII, BY ISLANDS, 1910. 131 Molokai.. 138 Hawall. BY COLOR OR RACE. 8,772 Other Caucasian....... Hawaiian. Caucasian Hawaiian.. The exports of domestic merchandise from Hawaii to the United States in the twelve months ending June 30, 1914, were valued at $40,628,200. The imports into Hawaii from the United States for the same period were valued at $25,571,169. The value of imports and exports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, aggregated $79,474,880, the imports valued at $36.002,940, and exports 843,471,940. The imports from the United States have almost doubled during the last six years. The exports of pineapples have increased almost fivefold, or from about $800,000 to about $4,000,000, during the last five years. The customs receipts were $1,869, 513, 89. 1,900 Black.... 4,533 1,791 208 81,993 158 537 2,736 The Territorial bonded indebtedness was $6,844,000, or 3.90 per cent. of the assessed value of property, which is $175, 201,161. Bank deposits aggregated $17.026,297.02 of which commercial deposits were $11,641,901.30, and savings deposits $5,384,395.72. There are 93 post-offices. There are powerful wireless stations for transmitting and receiving messages to and from San Francisco and Japan and with vessels at sea. The number of schools is 212. There are 986 teachers and the number of pupils has increased during the 13 years of Territorial government from 15,537 to 32,938, or 112 per cent. The new Territorial Government was inaugurated at Honolulu June 14, 1900, and the first Territorial Legislature began its sessions at Honolulu February 20, 1901. The Legislature is composed of two houses-the Senate of fifteen members, holding office four years, and the House of Representatives of thirty members, holding oflice two years. The Legislature meets biennially, and sessions are limited to sixty days. The executive power is lodged in a Governor, a Secretary, both appointed by the President, and hold office four years, and the following officials appointed by the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate of Hawaii. An Attorney-General, Treasurer, Commissioner of Public Lands, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Superintendent of Public Works, Superintendent of Pub lic Instruction, Auditor and Deputy, Surveyor, High Sheriff, and members of the Boards of Health, Public Instruction, Prison Inspectors, etc. They hold office for four years, and must be citizens of Hawaii. The Territorial Courts comprise a Supreme Court of three members, 5 Circuit Courts, of which 1 has three members, who sit separately, and the others one member each, and 29 District Courts, The Supreme Court and Circuit Court Judges are appointed by the President, and the District Magistrates by the Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court. The Circuit Courts are the courts of general original jurisdiction. They try law, equity, probate, and divorce cases. The First Circuit Court acts also as a court of land registration. The Circuit and District Courts act also as Juvenile Courts. The Territory is a Federal Judicial District, with a District Judge, District Attorney, and Marshal, all appointed by the President. The District Judge has all the powers of a Circuit Judge. The Territory is represented in Congress by à delegate, who is elected biennially by the people. Provision is made in the act creating the Territory for the residence of Chinese in the Territory, and prohibition as laborers to enter the United States FARMERS' NATIONAL CONCRESS. President-W. L. Ames, Oregon, Wis. Secretary-O. D. Hill, Kendalia, W. Va. Levi Morrison, Greenville, Pa. The imports and exports aggregated $79,474,880 during the fiscal year 1913. Receipts of the Territorial Government greatly exceeded the expenditures, notwithstanding large increases in the latter for public schools, public health and other matters. During the fiscal year 1913, 325 homesteads were taken. About five million dollars will be available during the present biennial period for the building of roads, water and sewer works, wharves and harbors, publicschools and other public buildings and the reclamation of wet lands in several towns. There was an increase over the preceding year in the expenditures for public schools the total being $946, 541.50. Pearl Harbor channel has been completed and the harbor was entered for the first time by a large war vessel, the California. Treasurer A delegate body representing more than 3,000,000 farmers. Urges: General parcel post; liberal Federal aid for good roads and inland waterways; teaching of agriculture in the public schools; a Federal pure seed law; head tax and illiteracy test on immigration; a rura! credit system not controlled by the banking power; also law to prevent imitation of butter; legislation to curb water-power monopolles; Fational and State control of land frand agencies; protection of co-operative enterprises. Opposes: Ship subsidies; interstate liquor traffic into known dry territory; free distribution of seeds. The Cuban T 967 sober DW THE Island of Cuba is 760 miles long, and its width varles from about 25 miles to 100 miles. Its area CUBA. 19. snottav comprises 45,881 square miles, or about that of Pennsylvania. It has numerous safe and commodious ban funny tenotra harbors, that of Havana being one of the largest and finest in the world. Measuring from points of nearest approach to its neighbors, Cuba is about 100 miles from Key West, Fla., north; 54 miles from Haytl, east; 130 miles from Yucatan, west, and 85 miles from Jamaica, south. There are 2,360 miles of railway lines and 200 miles of electric railways.. The two principal agricultural staples of the Island are sugar and tobacco. It also produces in considerable quantities fruits, vegetables, timber and metals, mainly iron, manganese and copper ore, and is adapted to coffee and cotton raising. The ground has no rival for fertility, and when duly cultivated gives marvellous results. The sugar cane when planted in superior ground is cut during 50 years without being planted again. sible exception of Porto Rico. The whole land is mantled with rich soils, fertile calcareous loams, Cuba is superior to the rest of the tropical lands, with the poswhich, under constant humidity, yield in abundance every form of useful vegetation of the tropical and temperate climes. It has 1,246 miles of shaded roads and highways. of the temperature is 12 degrees. Value of farms, plantations, etc., $120,000,000; tobacco crop, calculated at $32,000,000, and alThe average in January is 70.3; July, 82.4; extremes, 60 to 92. though there are but few plantations, oranges, grapefruits, etc., produce annually $10,000,000, while The average fluctuation pineapples, cocoa, molasses, asphalt, iron, nickel, mahogany, cedar, etc., produce $10,000,000 also. The Government is republican in forra. The President, who is chosen by popular suffrage, serves four years and appoints his own Cabinet. The Congress consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, one representative being chosen for every 25,000 inhabitants, as nearly as possible. The provinces, of which there are six, corresponding to the American States, elect their own Governors and control their own internal affairs. As ar Acensus of Cuba was taken by the United States Provisional Government in 1907, under the direction POPULATION OF CUBA. out 182bba of the Department of Agriculture at Washington. 4893162 were published in Spanish and English in 1909. The results, of which the following is an abstract, In 1907 Cuba had a population of 2,048,980, an Increase from 1899 of 476,183, or 30.3 per cent. (In 1913, total population, 2,500,000.) The population of the provinces of Cuba based on the 1907 census was as follows: Habana, 538,010; Santa Clara, 457,431; Oriente, 455,086; Pinar del Rio, 240,brot 372; Matanzas, 239,812; Camaguey, 118,269. Over half the population lived in the rural districts, the 134 towns and cities containing 899,667 inhabitants, or 43.9 per cent. of the total. The population of the six large cities was as follows: Habana, 297,159: Santiago de Cuba, 45,470; Matanzas, 36,009; Clenfuegos, 30,100; Camaguey, 29,616; Cardenas, 24,280. 1177 The density of population In 1907 was 46.4 per square mile. hinha Males were more numerous than females, the numbers being 1,074,882 and 974,098, respectively. sa 228 Of the total population, 1,369,476, or 66.8 per cent., were single or divorced; 423,537, or 20.7 per cent., were married; 176,509, or 8.6 per cent., were consensually married; and 79,458, or 3.9 per cent., were widowed. The average number of persons to a family was 4.8. baler In 1907 over two-thirds, 1,428,176, or 69.7 per cent., of the Inhabitants were white. The colored population was composed of 274,272 negroes, 334,695 mixed, and 11,837 Chinese. were native and 203,637 foreign born. Of the latter class, Spain contributed 185,393 and the United States 6,713. Of the whites, 1,224,539 met uit President. (Salary, $25,000).. Of the population at least ten years of age, 837,958, or 56.6 per cent., could read. For the large cltles the percentage was 82.6; for the rest of Cuba It was 47.9. In 1907, 772.502 persons were engaged in gainful occupations. The 698,982 male breadwinners formed 65 per cent. of all the males, while the 73,520 females gainfully employed formed 7.5 per cent. of all the females. Of the wage-earners, 374.969, or 48.5 per cent., were engaged in agriculture, fishing and mining; 136,419, or 17.6 per cent.. In trade and transportation; 126,021, or 16.3 per cent., in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits: 122,288, or 16 per cent., in domestic and personal service; and 12,805, or 1.6 per cent., In professional service. The principal trade is with the United States, which takes practically all the exports of sugar, fruit. and minerals, and more than nine-tenths of the raw tobacco. Trade with Spain has fallen off greatly. The total trade of Cuba for the calendar year 1913: Imports, $140,064,460; exports, $164,309,059. Imports Into the United States from Cuba, $131.269.619; exports from the United States to Cuba, $75,316,399. solbades ads in a 1 Tal THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT. 1ء Secretary of State-Dr. Pablo Desvernine. CARINET. RITA 192351 GEN. MARIO MENOCAL. ....ENRIQUE JOSÉ VARONA. Sec'y of Agriculture, Commerce and Labor-Emilio Secretary of Public Instruction and Fine Arts- Secretary of Health and Charities-Enrique Núñez. LEGISLATIVE. President of the Senate-Dr. Eugenio Sánchez | President (Speaker) of the House of Representatives— The Isle of Pines, which under the generally accepted survey is supposed to have an area of 614.34 square marine miles, or about 521,381 acres, is situated off the south coast of Western Cuba, Its nearest point to the larger Island being about 34 1-2 statute miles distant, while the island Itself and Its adjacent keys form the southern barrier of the Gulf of Batabano, a bight which extends northward to an extent sumclent to make Habana Province, to which the Isle of Pines is officially attached, the narrowest part of Cuba, Cuba to Panama, from which it is distant about 850 miles: It is 230 miles almost due east of Cape The Isle of Pines is practically the only land southward of Cartuche, Yucatan, and 370 miles northwest of the island of Jamaica. 1122 312242 J 140 NATIONAL PARKS IN THE UNITED STATES. THE National parks and reservations mentioned below are under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. General Information, the annual administrative reports, copies of the rules and regulations, and compilations of the laws relating to the parks may be obtained from the Secretary of the Interior or from the superintendents of the parks. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK is in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and has an area of 2,142,720 acres. The superintendent's address is Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. The park can be reached by the following railroada Northern Pacific Railroad to Gardiner, the northern entrance, viaLivingston, Mont.: Oregon Short Line Railroad to Yellowstone, Mont., the western entrance: Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad to Cody, Wyo., from which the eastern entrance to the park is accessible. Stage and private transportation connections for the reservation are made at all these points. The tourist season extends from June 1 to September 15. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, including the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove, embraces an area of 719,622 acres. The superintendent's address is Yosemite, Cal. The park can be reached from Merced on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé and the Southern Pacific railroads by way of Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs to the western boundary, and by connections of the same roads to Raymond, on the southwest; stage lines run from the terminus of the Yosemite Valley Railroad and from Raymond to Yosemite Valley within the park. The tourist season extends from May 1 to November 1, but the park is accessible and hotel accommodations are furnished the entire year. GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA, has an area of approximately 915,000 acres, of which 15,000 acres have been surveyed. Within the limits stated there are 250 lakes, ranging from 10 miles to a few hundred feet in extent. There are about 80 glaciers between 5 square miles and a few acres in There are wild animals, plants, and rocks in number and quantity to satisfy the most ardent student, and views of great variety, beauty and grandeur to gratify the artist and the lover of nature. The address of the superintendent is Belton, Mont. The park can be reached via the Great Northern Railway. The tourist season extends from May 1 to about September 15. area. MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON, has an area of 207,360 acres. The superintendent's address is Ashford, Wash. The park is reached by stage or private transportation from Ashford, Wash., on the Tacoma Eastern Railroad, and by trail from Fairfax, on the Northern Pacific Railroad. The tourist season extends from June 15 to September 15. SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, has an area of 161,597 acres. The address of the superintendent is Three Rivers, Cal. This park may be reached from Visalia, on the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé railroads by way of the Visalla Electric Railroad Company to Lemon Cove, thence by stage or private conveyance to the Giant Forest within the park, or by private conveyance from Visalia vía Lemon Cove. GENERAL GRANT NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, has an area of 2,536 acres. This reservation Is administered jointly with Sequoia National Park, and the tourist season extends from June 1 to September 15. The address of the superintendent is given above. The park may be reached from Sanger, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, thence by auto stage or private conveyance a distance of 46 miles to the park, also from Cuttler Station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad, thence 39 miles by stage or private conveyance by way of Orosi and Badger to the park. CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK, OREGON, has an area of 159,360 acres. The address of the superintendent during the tourist months (June 15 to September 30) is Crater Lake, Ore., and during the balance of the year Klamath Falls, Ore. This park may be reached by stage or automobile from Klamath Falls, Medford, Chiloquin, or Ashland, Ore., on the Southern Pacific Railroad. WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA, contains 10,522 acres. The superintendent's address is Wind Cave, S. Dak. This park may be reached by private conveyances from Hot Springs, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Chicago and Northwestern railroads, or by similar conveyance from Custer, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The reservation is open to tourists the entire year. SULLYS HILL PARK, NORTH DAKOTA, on the shore of Devils Lake, has an area of 780 acres. The address of the superintendent is Fort Totten, N. Dak. Devils Lake, Narrows, and Tokio, on the Great Northern Railroad, are close to the park, and from these points the reservation can be approached by wagon, or by boat (private conveyance). PLATT NATIONAL PARK, AT SULPHUR, OKLAHOMA, has an area of 848.22 acres. Sulphur is the post-office address of the superintendent. The town is accessible by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé and the St. Louis and San Francisco railroads. The park, which is open to tourists the entire year, is within walking or riding distance of the railroads. MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO, under the organic act approved June 29, 1906, contained an area of 42,376 acres, and the 5-mile strip under the park jurisdiction for the protection of ruins, provided for by the act, abutting the park, contained 175,360 acres. The 5-mile strip was eliminated from park supervision by the act of June 30, 1913, and the boundaries of the park proper were changed so as to make the present aggregate area 76.51 square miles, or 48,966.4 acres. The address of the superintendent is Mancos, Col., the nearest railroad station, on the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. This station is about 25 miles from the ruins, which may be reached only by horseback or on foot. The tourist season extends from May 1 to September 30. CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA, a reservation; has an area of 480 acres. The nearest railroad station is Casa Grande, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It may also be reached by private conveyance from Florence, Ariz., on the Phoenix and Eastern Railroad. The address of the custodian is Florence. The Mesa Verde National Park and the Casa Grande Reservation were set aside to protect the Instructive prehistoric ruins and other objects of antiquity which they contain. These ruins are being excavated and repaired and are open for the inspection of visitors. Reports on the repair of such ruins have been issued by the Department of the Interior, and more detailed accounts are distributed by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution. HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION, ARKANSAS (the permanent reservation), has an area of 911.63 acres. Eleven bathhouses on the reservation and twelve in the city of Hot Springs, as well as several hotels operated in connection with bathhouses, receive hot water from the springs, under lease with the Secretary of the Interior. The address of the superintendent is Hot Springs, Ark. PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES-Under the act of Congress approved June 8, 1906, Interdepartmental regulations governing the excavation, appropriation, etc., of prehistoric ruins or objects of antiquity have been promulgated by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War. Applications for permits to make excavations on the public lands, Indian reservations, or the national monuments named below should be addressed to the Secretary of the Interior. The following have been preserved from entry and set aside as national monuments: Devils Tower, Wyoming; Montezuma Castle, Arizona; Petrified Forest, Arizona; El Morro, New Mexico; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; Muir Woods, California; Natural Bridges, Utah; Lewis and Clark Cavern, Montana; Tumacacori, Arizona; Navajo, Arizona; Mukuntuweap, Utah; Shoshone Cavern, Wyoming; Gran Quivira, New Mexico: Sitka National Monument, Alaska; Rainbow Bridge, Utah; Pinnacles, Callfornia; Colorado, Colorado. Ten other national monuments within national forests have also been set aside under this act and placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, to whom inquiries in regard thereto should be addressed. Two other national monuments (Big Hole Battlefield, in Montana, and Cabrillo, in California) are under jurisdiction of the Secretary of War. Forests and Forestry. OUR forests now cover 550,000,000 acres, or about one-fourth of the United States. Forests publicly owned contain one-fifth of all timber standing. Forests privately owned contain at least four-fifths of the standing timber. The timber privately owned is not only four times that publicly owned, but it is generally more valuable. The original forests of the United States contained timber in quantity and variety far beyond that upon any other area of similar size in the world. They covered 850,000,000 acres, with a stand of not less than 5,200,000,000,000 feet of merchantable timber, according to present standards of use. There were five great forest regions-the northern, the southern, the central, the Rocky Mountain and the Pacific. The present rate of cutting is three times the annual growth of the forests of the United States. The great pineries of the lake States are nearing exhaustion and heavy inroads have been made upon the supply of valuable timber throughout all parts of the country. The heavy demands for timber have been rapidly pushing the great centres of lumber Industry toward the South and West. In consequence, the State of Washington has led for several years in lumber production, now followed in order by Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, and Texas. Among the soft woods in 1913 the production of yellow pine lumber amounted to about fifteen billion feet: the Douglas fir of the Northwest held second place, with nearly five and one-half billion feet; while white pine with two and one-half billion feet ranked third, though less was produced than in the preceding year; oak came first among the hardwoods with three and one-fifth billion feet, and was followed in order by maple, red gum, tulip poplar, chestnut, beech, and birch. We take from our forests yearly, including waste in logging and in manufacture, more than 30,000,000.000 cubic feet of wood, valued at about $1,875,000.000. We use in a single year 90,000,000 cords of firewood, nearly 40,000,000,000 board feet of lumber, 135,000,000 tles, nearly 1,700,000,000 staves, 440,000,000 board feet for veneer, over 130,000,000 sets of heading, over 350,000,000 barrel hoops, over 3,300,000 cords of native pulp wood, 165,000.000 cubic feet of round mine timbers, nearly 1,500,000 cords of wood for distillation, over 140,000 cords for excelsior, and nearly 3,500,000 telegraph and telephone poles. About 4,330,000 cords of wood are used in the manufacture of paper, of which about 1,000,000 cords are Imported mainly from Canada. The demand for wood pulp is making a severe drain on the spruce forests, which furnish the principal supply, though a number of other woods, such as poplar, hemlock, pine, and balsam, are now being used in considerable quantities. The Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture is conducting investigations to determine what other woods, such as Western white and red fir, lodge pole pine, Western hemlock, tupelo and the like. can be successfully used. A larger drain upon our forest resources is made by the demand for railroad ties. White oak, hitherto the chief source of supply, and in many parts of the country the supplies of chestnut, cedar and cypress are dwindling. In place of these highly durable woods cheaper and more plentiful ones, such as Southern pine, Douglas fir, tamarack, and hemlock, are coming into use, largely in consequence of the introduction of treatment by preservatives which retard decay. A great saving has been effected in the naval stores industry, also largely through the work of the Forest Service, by the introduction of the so-called "cup" systems of turpentining in place of the old destructive system of "boxing." The new systems Insure a larger product of better quality and prolong the life of the longleaf pine forests upon which the industry depends. UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE. The Forest Service is one of the bureaus of the Department of Agriculture. It has charge of the administration and protection of the National forests and also promotes the practice of forestry generally through investigations and the diffusion of information. The work of the Government in forestry was initiated by the appointment of Dr. Franklin B. Hough in 1876 as special agent in the Department of Agriculture. În 1881 a division of forestry was created in that department. In 1901 this division became the Bureau of Forestry, and in 1905, when the care of the National forests was given to this bureau, its name became the Forest Service. Previously the care of the National forests had been in the hands of the Department of the In terior. A law authorizing the President to set apart forest reserves was passed in 1891, but no provision for their administration and use was made until 1897. Previous to 1905 the Bureau of Forestry merely gave expert advice, on request, to the Department of the Interior concerning the application of forestry to the forest reserves. The change of name from "forest reserves" to "National forests" was made in 1906 to correct the impression that the forests were, as "reserves," withdrawn from use. Since the Forest Service took charge of them the fundamental aim has been to open them to the widest use consistent with their proper protection. The National forests were set aside as follows: By President Harrison, 13,416,710 acres; by President Cleveland, 25,686,320 acres; by President McKinley, 7,050,089 acres; by President Roosevelt, 148,346,924 acres. Since early in 1909 a careful readjustment of the boundaries has been going on. In consequence President Taft added to the National forests 4,333,847 acres and eliminated from them 11,680,578 acres, while down to July 1, 1914, President Wilson has added 418.745 acres and eliminated 1,973,839 acres. Acts of Congress prohibit any additions by the President to the National forest area in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The present gross area of the National forests, including Alaska and Porto Rico, is 185,321,202 acres, with an additional 190,755 acres acquired by purchase in the White Mountains and Southern Appalachian regions for National forest purposes. The following tables show the National forest expenditures and receipts for the fiscal years 1914 and 1913: EXPENDITURES FOR ADMINISTRATION AND PROTECTION, AND PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS DURING FISCAL YEAR 1914, COMPARED WITH 1913. ADMINISTRATION AND 1914. 1913. FISCAL YEAR. PROTECTION. TIMBER. FISCAL YEAR. 1914 Total. Total. (Per Acre. $1,304,053.56 $0.0070 $1,002,347.59 1913.... 1,275,556.48 0.0068 999,369.16 SPECIAL USES, ETC. PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS. $0.0007 Total. $617,980.35 COMPARISON OF RECEIPTS FROM THE SEVERAL SOURCES FOR THE FISCAL YEARS 1914 AND 1913. GRAZING. Per Acre. $0.0033 0.0025 ALL SOURCES. Total Per Acre. $2.437.710.21 $0,0132 2,391,920.85 0.0128 |
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