deed, for interior fittings, finishings, and furniture, no
artificial substitute has yet been found that is acceptable. For such
purposes it is carried to the interior of continents and transported
across the oceans; and although the cost has enormously increased, the
demand has scarcely fallen off.

=Forest Areas.=--The great belts of forests girdle the land surface of the
earth. A zone of tropical forest forms a broad belt on each side of the
equator, but mainly north of it. This forest includes most of the
ornamental woods, such as mahogany, ebony, rosewood, sandal-wood, etc.
It also includes the most useful teak as well as the rubber-tree and the
cinchona. Another forest belt in the north temperate zone is situated
mainly between the thirty-fifth and fiftieth parallels. It traverses
middle and northern Europe and the northern United States.

This forest contains the various species of pine, cedar, and other
conifers, the oaks, maples, elms, birches, etc. Most of the forests of
western Europe have been greatly depleted, though those of Norway and
Sweden are still productive. The forests of the United States, extending
from Maine to Dakota, have been so wellnigh exhausted that by 1950 only
a very little good lumber-making timber will be left.

The destruction of forests has been most wasteful. When a forest-covered
region is settled, a large area is burnt off in order to clear the land
for cultivation. In many instances the fires are never fully
extinguished until the forest disappears. The timber of the United
States has been depleted not only by frequent fires but in various other
ways. The lumbermen take the best trees and these are cut into
building-lumber. The railways follow the lumbermen, cutting out
everything suitable for ties. The paper-makers vie with the tie-cutters,
and what is left is the plunder of the charcoal-burner.

=Forestry.=--In most of Europe the care of the remaining forests is
usually a government charge. Only a certain number of mature trees may
be removed each year, and many are planted for each one removed--in the
aggregate, several million each year. In the United States, where the
value of the growing timber destroyed by fire each year nearly equals
the national debt, not very much has been done to either check the
ravage or to reforest the denuded areas. Many of the States, however,
encourage tree-planting. In several, Arbor Day is a holiday provided by
law.

The general Government