General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Marketing and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
The items appearing here are condensed selections of news thought to be of interest to readers of UNASYLVA. They are grouped alphabetically by countries under headings currently used by the Division of Forestry and Forest Products for reference purposes. The Editor will be glad to receive direct from readers authenticated items of interest and of news value for this part of the review.
GERMANY
· The Forstarchiv, oldest German forestry periodical and for twenty-five years the chief European reference organ for forestry and forest products, has resumed publication after an interruption of five years. The first number contains scientific papers on current forestry problems with relation to the research work done in Germany during the last ten years, a "sketch for the forestry education of a young friend," written by Goethe in 1807; a list of the research institutes, professional schools, and libraries connected with forestry and forest products in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as of April 1950; a tabulation on forestry data in Germany in 1927, 1936, 1946, and 1949; and a survey of the German publications of recent years.
CANADA
· A promising method of site classification based primarily on soil moisture and permeability relationships was tested under field conditions in the Nipigon area of Ontario by the federal Forestry Branch. This concept of site classification was originally developed by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. The work is being continued by the Ontario forest service in conjunction with the work of mapping the soils of the province.
In Quebec, field studies are almost completed on a system of site classification for the boreal forest, this classification uses the lesser vegetation and soil type as an index.
A soil map and study of the soils of the Kananaskis Forest Experiment Station in the subalpine section of Alberta have been completed and will provide a sound basis for future site studies in that area.
AUSTRALIA
· It has long been recognized that silvicultural treatment of plantations has an important bearing on the technical qualities of the wood. Many studies have been made using standard-sized specimens to determine this relationship, but the results have not been completely satisfactory. The Division of Forest Products of the CSIRO has perfected a machine which makes it possible to test specimens 1/16 inch (1.6 mm.) wide and only 3/1,000 inch (0.08 mm.) thick, prepared by slicing on a microtome. Thus, it is now possible to test wood produced during any particular period of treatment and to relate more precisely the effect of the treatment on the strength of the wood. Results to date indicate that this microtensile testing technique is extremely sensitive and it is hoped that valuable results will be obtained.
CEYLON
· In dry mixed evergreen forests the poisoning of undesirable trees by frill girdling, in order to free valuable species, is being replaced in part by felling such species and converting them into split firewood for sale. This serves to increase the amount of usable wood. It has helped reduce the price of firewood to urban consumers by one-third; it has increased revenue collection considerably; and it has substantially reduced the amount of trespass to obtain firewood.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· In the far north, where the vegetative period is short, any measure is welcome that helps to prolong it. One of such measures practiced in the Yakut Republic of Asia is to sprinkle the snow in late winter with ashes, soot, road sweepings, or any other dark-colored powdered substance. This snow thaws much faster than white snow, due to the feet that, while white snow reflects nearly 100 percent of the sun's heat rays, a black surface absorbs nearly all of them. The following observations are cited as an illustration: On 19 April experimental plots were still covered with snow to a depth of 60 centimeters. On that date some of the plots were sprinkled with a mixture of ashes and soot. Three days later, on 22 April measurements showed that on the blackened plots the snow dentin was reduced by 35 centimeters but by only 3 centimeters on the untreated plots. On 26 April the snow on the blackened plots had disappeared completely, while on the control plots the snow was still 47 centimeters deep. On 8 May the ground on the blackened plot thawed out to a depth of 30 centimeters and green grass began to appear, while the surrounding country was still covered with snow 20 centimeters deep. Flowers appeared on the treated plots 11 days earlier than on the control plots. Cultivated fields when treated in this manner yielded 400 to 500 kilograms per hectare more because of the longer growing season.
For forest planting, baring the ground of snow earlier in the spring offers more moisture in the soil and better weather for planting. On the average, areas on which the snow has been sprinkled with some dark substance may have a 15 days longer growing season, not a small consideration in regions where the growing season is extremely short. The cost is nominal. From 100 to 200 kilograms of blackening substance per hectare is considered sufficient. Ashes, crushed charcoal, etc., are not hard to obtain and their application is simple. In the ease of a late snowfall, the process may have to be repeated.
· Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) was introduced from the United States of America into Transcarpathia and the western provinces of Ukraine about 1880. Recent examination of these early plantations indicates that the species is very well adapted to the climate and soils of western Ukraine. The trees have made excellent growth over large areas when planted at elevations ranging from 50 to 1,000 meters above sea level. In plantations 42 to 53 years of age the trees had reached an average height of about 30 m., a diameter of 30 em., and a timber content of between 500 and 800 m³ per hectare - a growth comparable only to the European larch (Larix decidua). Tests of the physical and mechanical qualities of Douglas fir wood in these plantations showed - as regards weight, compression, and hardness - a close resemblance to those of fir spruce, pine, and larch. On the strength of this evidence it is now planned to widely extend the planting of Douglas fir in shelterbelts, parks, etc., for timber production. The seed is to be obtained from existing plantations, which are being held in reserve for seed production.
CANADA
· Experiments carried out during the past year in the prairie provinces on the use of rubber-wheeled tractors for towing sawlogs over long distances on sleighs, have met with considerable success; the transportation of logs on rubber-wheeled semitrailers in double-log or tree lengths has also worked well. The transport of timber over considerable distances to a central point for manufacture will permit more efficient milling practices.
CANADA
· Perhaps the most important contribution in the field of forest fire research by the federal Forestry Branch during 1949 was the publication, in outline form, of a method for determining standards of acceptable forest-fire protection, adapted to the various forest regions of Canada. By this method, the average annual burning rate is used as a measure of the effectiveness of forest fire control in each of the principal types of forest and wild land and in zones for which different levels of intensity of protection are required. The formula used to determine the acceptable burning rate for each class takes into account both the values requiring protection and the factors which affect the difficulty of protection. A procedure has also been developed by which elapsed-time standards may be derived for carrying out fire-control operations, in order to keep the average area burned during a period of years within the required limit.
In co-operation with the New Brunswick Forest Service an analysis was completed in 1950, covering a nine-year period, of the occurrence and characteristics of forest fires in that province in relation to the computed degree of forest-fire danger prevailing at the time of each fire. The study showed that the Wright system of fire-danger measurement, as used in that province, is highly effective in differentiating between good and bad fire days. Its reliability lessens, however, in areas where weather stations are spaced more than 25 miles from a point where hazard index values are calculated. The analysis shows the relative fire load or degree of fire-control effort to be expected in each class of danger and brings out seasonal variations in the nature of the fire-control problem.
UNITED KINGDOM
· The replanting of recently felled or burned coniferous woods and plantations is liable to result in serious trouble from the pine weevil (Hylobius) and from black pine beetles (Hylastes) which breed in the stumps of felled trees and attack newly planted trees. The British Forestry Commission has issued Leaflet No 25 (revised 1949) giving general recommendations for determining the time interval which should elapse between felling or burning and replanting so as to eliminate the danger of attack. The leaflet also gives methods of trapping insects in near-by areas which may provide a source of attack on the newly replanted areas.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The disastrous fires of October 1947 in Maine showed the urgent need for improved organization and integration of forest fire control, not only in the State of Maine but also in the other northeastern states. One result was new legislation in Maine, centering authority in the State Forest Commissioner for forest fire-fighting activities around the organized towns. Another and even more important result was the organization of the Northeastern Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact, and the selection of a former regional forester of the U.S. Forest Service as its executive secretary. The seven states in the northeastern region having ratified the compact, it is now in operation, and it is hoped that adjacent states in the United States and provinces of Canada may become party to it.
The purposes of the compact include establishment of a central agency to co-ordinate the services of member states and to perform common services for them, integration of plans to control forest fires, maintenance of adequate fire-fighting services, provision of mutual aid among states, and developing procedures to facilitate such aid. The Northeastern Forest Protection Commission, created by the compact, consists of three members from each state, including the state forester, a state legislator, and a representative of the governor. The Commission has powers to recommend measures for prevention and control of forest fires, to formulate and revise a fire control plan, to recommend research work needed, and to make its own inquiries on methods and practices resulting in better fire control. The compact obligates states to put into effect plans and measures recommended and to help other states in emergencies. It also provides that employees of an aiding state shall have the same powers and immunities as officers of the aided state, and establishes methods of reimbursement for aid. It is hoped that this regional compact may serve as a model for similar action elsewhere.
· In 1948 the Columbia River Basin had its worst flood since 1894. Practically all rivers in the basin were in flood, towns and cities suffered great damage, and fifty people drowned. Fields, homes, and crops were flooded for weeks. This state of affairs was largely caused by unusually heavy winter falls of snow and a late spring The weather stayed cold until mid-May of 1948 and then suddenly turned warm throughout the region. Normally the rise in temperature is gradual, and the snow on the low-lying areas melts sooner than on the higher mountain slopes, where it may stay as much as three weeks longer in forested areas than on bare slopes. At the time of the flood the high mountain forests, although losing their snow cover, were still holding back a considerable volume of water. It was quite obvious, however, that large stretches of mountain lands lacking forest cover were adding to the floods.
One of the major reasons for the lack of forest cover on the high mountain slopes was that fire after fire had for years swept through and denuded the forests of the Columbia River watershed. The upper basin had a million-acre (400,000 hectares) forest fire in 1865, and others in 1868 and 1899 Three and a half million acres (1,400,000 hectares) of forest burned in 1910. In the 31 national forests of the basin more than 5 million acres (2 million hectares) - 11 percent of their total area - had been burned.
A fire in 1919 in the Clearwater River drainage had previously demonstrated what happens when the protective influence of trees has been removed. The spring flood peaks were 11 percent greater than before, and the badly needed summer flow was 32 percent less; also the average spring peak flow came fourteen days earlier than before the fire. This variation in peaks was noted time and again in the various small watersheds of the Columbia River basin during the 1948 flood. The peak flood from damaged watersheds usually came earlier than from those which were undamaged and the peaks were always higher; after high water the floods from the damaged areas dropped more rapidly than those from forested drainages.
It is estimated that some 78,000 tons of silt was carried by the Columbia River during the twenty-one days of the flood. Many of the streams cut their old channels deeper and wider, and sometimes developed entirely new channels. Much of the material eroded from the mountain channels was coarse gravel and boulders, which was dumped by the flood on roads, recreation areas, and fertile lands. This coarse material, together with old logs, had in some places been piled up to change the course of the streams, sometimes, when suddenly released, it destroyed roads and bridges. In one ease the coarse sediment remained in the creek bed to a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters), which means that similar floods in future will more readily overflow the river banks.
Even if the best watershed conditions had existed, this flood could not have been prevented. But the lands damaged by fire, poor logging practices, poor grazing practices, and sometimes by poorly built roads, contributed far more than their share to the catastrophe. The job now is to restore these damaged lands.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· Elms are valuable trees, both because of their high-quality wood and their decorative value in parks and along streets. Widely distributed in Europe, North America, and Asia, elms have one serious drawback - low resistance to the disease caused by fungus Graphium ulmi. It causes yellowing of the foliage, defoliation, and finally death of the tree. The Dutch elm disease, so-called because it was first discovered in the Netherlands, has caused the death of many fine elm groves and of many valuable individual specimens of large size and historical significance and the United States. There is no effective remedy to cheek the spread of the disease, and it remains a serious threat.
The Russians report that they have discovered a small-leaved elm which exhibits an extraordinary resistance to the disease. Not a single small-leaved elm was found with the disease, and when these trees were repeatedly infected with the fungus they readily shed the infection. This discovery led to crossing the small-leaved elm with other varieties, thus producing resistant hybrids. During 1946-49 a method was developed for propagating the small-leaved elm and its hybrids vegetatively by means of cuttings.
· By a decree of November 1949 the Ministry of Forestry advised all forest administrative units that they must have complete fire protection plans by 1951. The existing plans include: (1) preventive measures (disposal of brush, building of fire lanes), (2) detection of fires and warnings of dangerous fire conditions (airplane patrol, fire towers, meteorological observations, etc.), (3) fire suppression (fire fighting). The Ministry of Forestry, considering that these measures are treated as separate activities, believes they should be co-ordinated into a unified plan.
In addition to the regular fire protection, it is now proposed to bring silvicultural practices into fire protection and to use silvicultural methods to make the forests more resistant to fire. Several eases are cited to illustrate how proper silviculture can help minimize fire danger. In the northern coniferous zone, fires in pure pine and spruce stands travel through the tree tops (crown fires) and it is impossible to stop them. However, when these forests are cut-over, the ensuing growth is aspen, birch, basswood (Tilia grandifolia), etc., By cutting clear wide strips through the pine and spruce and allowing the hardwood species to come up, it is possible to create wide barriers of fairly fire-resistant trees. These barriers may not stop the fires completely, but they do help to convert crown fires, which are impossible to fight, into ground fires, which are much more readily controlled.
Another example is provided by the forests in the prairie region. There, the fire danger rests in the grasses, especially the more readily inflammable species. As long as the forest canopy is kept dense, the grasses are shaded out, but, if the stands are allowed to open up, grasses encroach into the forest and may lead to crown fires. For proper protection, the stands should always have a crown density above 0.7. In broad-leaved forests the purpose should be to eliminate all inflammable ground cover which has become established as the result of past fires, particularly the widely distributed heather. The amount of dry substance in heather in air-dry condition may amount to 8 tons and more per hectare, making this plant an important fire hazard. This can be combated by maintenance of very dense tree stands introduction of shrubs which shade the ground, or any other operation that tends to cut off light from the ground.
CANADA
· During 1949/50, research in air photography by the Forestry Branch of the federal Department of Resources and Development covered problems in the following fields: biology, instruments, photogrammetry, films and filters, special forest photography, and mapping. Improvements are reported in the design of stereoscopes, plotting devices, the photoelectric planimeter, and the "moose-horn," an instrument for measuring crown closure in the field. Studies continue on improving the reliability of photographic estimates, on the relationship of basal area to crown closure, and on other problems in air surveying. Provincial forest services and industry have reported greater use in their forest surveys of the large-scale forestry tri-camera technique developed by the Forestry Branch. Instruction in this technique is given by trained personnel of the federal service.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A method has been developed in the Pacific Northwest for estimating forest area and volumes of relatively large tracts measuring 36 square miles (93 km²) and upward in size. First of all, a set of aerial photographs is made. Then, in the office, a tentative delineation of forest classes is made, based on timber types and forest condition classes. This tentative classification is checked in the field, particularly where the drawing of class lines is doubtful. At the same time, field work is done to locate the section corners, section lines, and bench marks needed to relate areas and volumes to ownership. The forest class map of the tract is then prepared and an area estimate is made of each forest class by placing over the air photograph a transparent grid of small, equally-spaced dots and the dots counted by forest classes. Next, the sample plots for volume determination are selected from the photographs, using random-choice methods. Then the photographs are taken into the field and a series of plots are laid out and measured around the selected point for sampling. In this way the volume per acre for each forest class is determined and total volume for the class may be readily worked out, depending on the acreage of that class on the tract.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· In March 1950 the Ministry of Forestry put into effect directives as to the methods of cutting to be used in harvesting the principal timber crops. No such regulations were in force before, except for forests designated as "watershed protection forests," where no clear-cutting of any kind was allowed. The new regulations do not apply to mountainous forests but only to forests on comparatively level ground. The regulations cover pine, spruce, oak, and other broadleaf species (basswood aspen, etc.), in the four natural geographic zones - the prairie, the prairie forest, the mixed forests, and the northern coniferous (taiga) zone. The rules vary somewhat according to the composition of the forest and its occurrence in one or another geographic zone, but certain principal features apply uniformly to all:
The silvicultural method of cutting adopted for all forests on level land is that of clear-cutting. The width of the clear-cut varies for pine forests from 50 to 100 meters according to their geographic location, for spruce 100 to 250 meters, for oak 100 meters, and for broadleaf softwood trees 250 to 500 meters. No timber adjoining the clear-cut strip can be cut until the logged area has been regenerated. The period allowed for regeneration is from two to five years. In the northern coniferous forests, regeneration of the cut-over area is to be accomplished by natural seeding, assisted by preliminary preparation of the ground, such as removal of the sphagnum moss or grass cover and stirring up the soil. In all other forests the regeneration is either artificial or natural or combination of the two. The slash must be disposed of immediately after logging. In pine and spruce forests the slash is burned in piles 1 to 1 ½ meters in height and diameter (150 to 200 piles per hectare). Where the ground is thin and rocky, however, the slash is not burned but broken up in small pieces less than 0.5 m. in length and scattered evenly over the area. The undergrowth if it is of valuable species, is carefully preserved. No seed trees are left on the cut-over areas except in pine forests. Originally, 25 to 30 pine seed trees used to be left per hectare, but now the number has been reduced to 10 or 15 trees.
CANADA
· A pamphlet on the Christmas tree industry in Canada, issued by the Department of Resources and Development shows that about 11 million trees were produced in the 1949/50 season, mostly for export to the United States. Balsam fir is preferred by most buyers, supplying almost half of the market. Other species chosen are Douglas fir, spruce and Scots pine. The pamphlet concludes that the industry has a definite part to play in the social and economic life of the country. It is, furthermore, a profitable business: 50 to 60 Christmas trees can be raised in the time and space needed to grow one mature tree, and the stumpage value of the Christmas tree is at least four times that of the mature spruce. The present annual cut could be maintained in perpetuity on about 200 square miles (51,800 hectares) of forest land.
· The forest industries of Canada fall into five groups: operations in the woods, the lumber industry, the pulp and paper industry, the wood-using and the paper-using industries. The net value of production from operations in the woods amounted in 1948 to Can$461 million, 11 percent of the net value of all primary production. The net value of production in that year for the other four groups - the secondary forest industries - amounted to Can$916 million, almost one-sixth of the net value of all secondary production in Canada. The net value of production in all forest industries made up almost 15 percent of the total net value of all production for the year. During 1948, these industries employed over 381,000 men and women, more than 7 percent of the total civilian labor force.
CANADA
· A barrel produced entirely from uniformly molded staves and a molded heading and bottom, has been developed at the Ottawa Forest Products. Fully tested models have proved highly satisfactory. The staves are uniform in width and interchangeable. This feature permits the production of barrels that can be readily demounted for shipment and assembled at destination. A cooperage plant in eastern Canada is being equipped for the commercial production of these barrels.
· The use of a round-log gangsaw is gradually increasing in Canada, recent new installations having been made in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and northern Ontario. This type of mill appears to be especially suitable for the manufacture of softwood lumber in the prairie provinces and in eastern Canada, where many of the logs are small and grade recovery is not of prime importance.
MOROCCO
· A plywood factory equipped with American machinery has started operation near Casablanca. The present monthly production of 300 m³ of plywood board may be increased considerably in the future. The factory, the first of its kind in North Africa, will employ 100 workers and will use logs of mahogany and okoumé from Gabon, Cameroun, and the Ivory Coast, and native woods for the manufacture of crates and other items, mostly for local consumption. Scarcity of water in the factory area has led to the development of a special method to avoid the usual steam treatment of the wood strips.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The U.S. Forest Service is preparing a Small Sawmill Operator's Manual which will deal with mills ranging in size up to those cutting 20,000 board feet (50 m³ (s)) per eight-hour day. It will contain information on different types and designs of small machinery and equipment suited to small mills, their operation and efficiency and their installation. The bulletin will also cover sawmill planning and direction, operational techniques, and man-hour and capital requirements.
· Tests on the effectiveness of various preservatives in protecting wood against marine-borer attack have been conducted for 29 years in Gulfport, Mississippi, and for 35 years in Pensacola Florida, using both round southern pine piling and sawn sapwood pieces of standard sizes and with standard exposure. Some tests were made with modified wood and with untreated foreign woods which have natural resistance to marine-borer attack. The more important findings were:
(1) The most effective preservatives tested were higher boiling creosote oils and creosote fractions, higher-boiling water-gas-tar creosotes, and solutions of coal tar in coal-tar creosote. High-boiling creosotes are less toxic than low-boiling but have greater permanence in the wood. (2) Creosotes containing high percentages of light distillates or tar acids were far less effective than creosotes low in tar acids or high in tar bases. (3) Most effective treatments were obtained with heavy retentions and deep penetrations. (4) The resistance to attack was not improved when creosote was fortified with chemicals such as copper salts, organic or inorganic arsenic compounds, carbazole, dinitronaphthalene, dinitrochlorobenzene, ferric chloride, or high percentages of naphathalene. (5) Resistance of creosote was decreased by additions of paraffin of montan wax proportionately to the decrease in amount of creosote in mixture. (6) None of the large number of soluble and insoluble preservative salts used gave promise of protection for more than limited periods. (7) Petroleum oils gave little protection, and solutions of creosote and petroleum were less effective as the proportion of creosote was reduced. (8) Limnoria attacks treated wood that effectively resists shipworm (Teredo) attack. (9) Marine borers attack piling from the mudline to the water surface. (10) Variations in intensity of attack occur from year to year, and intensity is greatest during warm months. (11) Long-period experiments are necessary to obtain valid results. (12) Of foreign woods treated, greenheart resisted attack by both Limnoria and shipworm for a period of eleven years, manbarklak resisted for a short period, and other species were destroyed in relatively short periods. (13) Experiments of compreg modified wood were sound after four years of exposure whereas impreg and papreg specimens showed attack during the same period. (14) Further work is desired on this problem and particularly the use of control series treated with coal-tar creosote as a means of comparing their life with that of specimens treated with other preservatives.
· The fertilizer requirements of the northeastern region of the United States amount to 1.7 million short tons (1.5 million metric tons) annually, and consumption is likely to continue to increase. On the other hand, the waste of wood material in lumbering, sawmill, and pulping operations reaches a figure of over 7 million tons annually. The Northeastern Wood Utilization Council, which was organized in 1942 for a concerted attack on problems of low-grade wood and wood waste, thus brings together summaries of applied research which may help to bridge the gap between waste and use. There are a number of practical possibilities for using wood waste, including use of wood ashes as a fertilizer, the use of sawdust shavings and superphosphate with dairy manure the use of sawdust in lieu of wheat straw for bedding, the use of ground bark as a soil mulch, and the use of lignin as a potato fertilizer and as a soil builder. In all eases, the practical application of laboratory research is emphasized and, where available, the economical aspects of the use of wood waste are specified.
· Research at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, on food-yeast production from wood-processing by products shows that a food yeast high in protein and vitamins can be produced rapidly, with a yield of 40 to 45 percent of the wood substance from the carbohydrates in wood waste or in by-products from the chemical processing of wood. The sugars present in sulfite pulp waste liquor, which represent about 11 percent of the wood substance, are also suitable for food yeast production. The carbohydrates now wasted in alkaline pulping could be removed before pulping and used for production of food-yeast. Pentose and hexose sugars, obtained from wood, yield about equal quantities of yeast. For best yields and speed of propagation, yeast must be acclimatized to wood sugars, but continuous propagation is possible. A propagator has been developed to take advantage of foam that is normally a problem in the propagation of yeast from wood sugars. About 3.4 pounds of nitrogen, 1.6 pounds of phosphoric salts, and 1.1 pounds of potassium salts per 100 pounds of wood sugar (7.5 kg., 3.5 kg., 2.4 kg. respectively per 100 kg. of wood sugar) are required for maximum yields. Food yeast so produced contains about 50 percent protein, 4 percent fat, small amounts of vitamin B1, and large amounts of vitamin B2. The processes employed at the Forest Products Laboratory differ in some respects from the German process.
· The Unicel all-plywood combination refrigerator ear and boxcar utilizes the entire ear structure to absorb shocks, while the conventional steel freight ear concentrates them in a center sill on which the whole framework of the ear is placed. This distribution of stresses which was first developed in Monocoque aircraft shells, reduces the maximum stress to about 3,000 pounds per square inch (200 kilograms per cm²) while it reaches as high as 50,000 pounds per square inch (3,500 kg. per cm²) in conventional constructions. The components are welded together into a single rigid unit by a durable high-strength phenolformaldehyde resin, which can be applied by ordinary or high-frequency hot or cold pressing
The new plastic bonding and masking sheets, topped by white or colored paper saturated with resin, provide an abrasion-, fatigue-, and decay-resisting surface, eliminating the periodic resurfacing and limiting the use of sterilizing and cleaning equipment necessary with painted surfaces. While up till now speeds of 4 to 10 m.p.h. have been considered collision speeds by railroad men, the end of the new ear is designed to sustain impact speeds of 23 m.p.h. and in impact testings it has stood up against standard steel ears without a surface scratch.
The entire weight of the ear, which is highly insulated, is 46,000 lbs. (20.4 tons) It will cost less and need fewer skilled workers conventional models if produced in large series. This ear, if it goes into quantity production, can become a large user of plywood.
ARGENTINA
· Work has been started on the preparation of an aerial-photogrametric survey of a vast forest zone covering 160 000 hectares in the colony Manuel Belgrano, Misiones territory. This region contains important stands of Paraná pine (Araucaria augustifolia), considered a high-quality raw material for the production of paper pulp. This survey is a part of the newsprint project sponsored by the Government to develop the pulp and paper industries and to make the country self-sufficient in these products. The survey, by disclosing the location and volume of the forests, will be the basis for planning their exploitation, management, and proper utilization.
JAPAN
· The Natural Resources Section, General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, has issued comprehensive information on forest area, volume, and growth in Japan based on four years of work and designed to form a dependable basis for forest policy and practice. Although there are 39 million acres (16 million hectares) of accessible forest in Japan only 15 percent is occupied by the coniferous timber which provides 85 percent of the sawlogs cut annually, 12 percent is occupied by broadleaved timber, which provides the remaining 15 percent of sawlogs. Thus, 73 percent of the total is made up of fuelwood forests, areas in need of reforestation, wasteland, and other nonproductive types. The seriousness of the situation is illustrated by the feet that the usable coniferous saw timber in accessible areas is only about 11,250 million cubic feet (319 million ma ®), which is only 9 percent more than the coniferous volume cut during the past fifteen years. The 2,400 million cubic feet (68 million m³ ®) of accessible broadleaved timber and 16,000 million cubic feet (453 million m³ ®) of fuelwood bring the total volume to about 30,000 million cubic feet (850 million m³ ®), which is far too little to supply the timber and fuel needs of the people.
Average annual growth of usable saw timber is estimated at about 226 million cubic feet (6.4 million m³ ®), and of fuelwood, mostly hardwoods, at 445 million cubic feet (13 million m³ ®). Present growth is only a small fraction of that possible by intensive forest management, but the figures given represent the maximum that can safely be expected at present. There remain considerable areas of inaccessible forest particularly of broadleaved forests. About half of the forest land is in private ownership and most of the rest in national and community ownership, with shrines and temples owning relatively small amounts; national ownership accounts for over 60 percent of the accessible saw timber volume and 51 percent of the accessible fuelwood volume.
KENYA
· Of the 220,000 square miles (570,000 km²) of Kenya colony, only about one-third is suitable for agricultural development and normal human habitation. Except for a narrow coastal belt in the east, the remainder is hot, dry, sparsely inhabited country. But, the colony has many forest types and over 100 timber species of commercial importance. The forest types are classified into three broad groups: the mountain forests of the highlands, the semitropical rain forests of the highlands, and the lowland or coast forests.
The first group includes the Montane Rain Forest lying between 6,500 and 8,500 feet elevation (2,000 and 2,600 m.), with an average annual rainfall of 55 to 90 inches (1,400 to 2,300 mm.) and consisting of evergreen hardwoods the Montane Conifer Forest, lying at elevations of 6,500 to 9,000 feet (2,000 to 2,700 m.) with an annual rainfall of 35 to 55 inches (900 to 1,400 mm.), and containing principally the pencil cedar (Juniperus procera) and two species of Podocarpus; the Montane Bamboo Forest, lying principally between 8,000 and 8,500 feet (2,400 and 2,600 m.), and the Montane Semi-Evergreen Forest lying between 5,500 and 6,000 feet (1,700 and 1,800 m.) with an average annual rainfall of 35 to 40 inches (900 to 1,000 mm.).
The semitropical rain forests occur around Mount Kenya and the Lake Victoria basin at an elevation of 4,500 to 5,550 feet (1,400 to 1,700 m.), with an annual rainfall of 55 to 75 inches (1,400 to 1,900 mm.). The coast forests lie below 1,200 feet (370 m.), within a distance of 25 miles (40 km.) from the coast, and have a rainfall of 35 to 50 inches (900 to 1,300 mm.) per annum. They are subdivided into the lowland rain forest, the lowland dry forest, and the lowland savannah woodland.
Most of the supplies of Podocarpus have been exhausted and plantations of Cupressus, Pinus insignia, and P. canariensis have been established. Many of the Kenya timbers have close affinity with South African timbers. The weight per cubic foot of the native hardwoods ranges from 16 lbs. air-dry (256 kg. per m³) for Gyrocarpus asiaticus to 75 lbs. (1,200 kg. per m³) for Dalbergia melanoxylon and Terminalia prunioides. In the recent assembly of information on a large number of native timbers, they are classified as: very light - under 25 lbs. per cubic foot (400 kg. per m³) light - 26 to 35 lbs. (401 to 560 kg.) medium weight, 36 to 50 lbs. (561 to 801 kg.); heavy, 51 to 65 lbs. (802 to 1,041 kg.), and very heavy, over 65 lbs. (1,041 kg.). Tests of timbers in accordance with the specifications of the British Standards Institution have been made both at the Forest Products Laboratory in England and in Nairobi. For 36 of the more important species the tests are quite complete. A concordance of native and botanical names has been prepared, a complicated matter because of local variations in native names. For each of 100 species, available information has been assembled in a Catalogue of Kenya Timbers, giving trade and local names, size and characteristics of the tree, distribution, available supplies, characteristics of the timber, strength properties, working qualities, requirements and methods of seasoning, durability, and uses.
UNITED KINGDOM
· The Forestry Commission is offering grants to encourage the planting of poplars for timber production, either in compact blocks or in lines or avenues. Grants are payable in two forms. That for planting in blocks is £8 per acre, an advance of £4 being followed by payment of the balance after five years, if the trees have been properly established and maintained. For planting in lines or avenues the grant is two shillings per tree, with an advance of one shilling, the balance normally being payable after five years. Canker-susceptible poplars such as the balsam group of species and hybrids, and a limited number of other species, do not qualify for grants.
Much of the poplar used for match-making is imported. This wood is also used for the manufacture of chip baskets, for the packing of fruit, and for packing eases and paper pulp.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· In August 1948 a preliminary award of 1,500 million cubic feet (42 million m³) of Alaskan pulp timber was made by the Chief of the Forest Service, under which the company receiving the award was required to meet certain qualifications for final purchase of the timber. The date for the final award has been extended for two years so that additional time will be available to complete plans for construction of a sulphite pulp-mill using the magnesium base process, since difficulties in applying the process on a commercial scale makes it impracticable for the company to complete the final design now. This process eliminates all possibility that pulp-mill waste material might pollute ocean water and damage the fishing industry. The initial mill will have a daily capacity of 300 tons of pulp. The 1,500 million cubic feet of timber will supply a pulp-mill with a daily capacity of 525 tons for fifty years.
· One of the important pieces of recent Federal legislation is the Anderson-Mansfield Act, intended to accelerate and provide a continuous basis for reforestation and revegetation of national forest lands and other lands under the administration of the Forest Service. Appropriations are authorized in progressively increasing amounts for reforestation, ranging from $3 million for fiscal year 1951 to $10 million for 1955, and a like amount each year thereafter through 1965. Similarly, appropriations are authorized for range revegetation, beginning with $1.5 5 million for 1951 and increasing gradually each year up to $3 million in 1955, and a like amount thereafter through 1965. The lands affected are the sole or main source of summer range for 10 million cattle and sheep grazed by 30,000 livestock permittees. They include over 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) of denuded and unsatisfactorily stocked timber lands and an additional 4 million acres of seriously depleted range lands.
Also noteworthy were the amendments to the Clarke-McNary Act of 1924. The appropriation authorization for co-operative forest fire protection was increased from $9 million to $20 million in gradual steps through the year 1955. Authorization for expenditures in the production and distribution of forest planting stock to private landowners, in co-operation with the states, was increased from $100,000 to $2.5 million annually. Not more than $1 million was authorized for fiscal is provision for an increase of $500,000 each year through 1952, when a maximum of $2.5 million is to be reached. Authorization for educational work, in co-operation with the states, land grant colleges, and other suitable state agencies, as an aid to farm forest owners, was increased from $100,000 to $500,000 annually.
During the year, legislation provided for an increase in the authorization for initial forest surveys from $6.5 million to $11 million; and for an increase in the authorization for resurveys from $250,000 to $1.5 million annually.
The most important forest law enacted by any of the states in 1949 was one relating to forest conservation and taxation in New Hampshire. Its purpose is to encourage forest conservation by exempting the timber on forest land from the yearly burden of local property taxes and substituting a yield tax of 10 percent on wood and timber at the time of cutting. Of particular interest is a clause of the act which provides for a 30 percent abatement of the yield tax if the forest owner uses approved forest practices.
