The items appearing here are condensed selections of newts thought to be of interest to readers of UNASYLVA. They are grouped alphabetically by countries under headings currently used by the Forestry Division for reference purposes. The Editor will be glad to receive direct from readers authenticated items of interest and of newts value for this part of the review.
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Recently compiled specialized bibliographies available in the U. S. Department of Agriculture Library Washington, L). C., include aerial photography and photogrammetry, 19421949; killing trees by poisoning; and shelterbelt planting, 1931-1951.
· The Forest and Range Experiment Stations operated by the U. S. Forest Service have developed a variety of methods and types of publication through which they enable customers and students to keep up to date on current work. Each station prepares an annual report in which summaries of results from the station's projects are given, classified according to the main divisions of work, such as forest management, protection, forest influences, range management, forest economics, flood control surveys, and wood utilization. These reports generally also summarize the plans for the ensuing year, arranged in approximately the same way as the current projects. The annual reports normally define clearly the main wildland and water problems of the region and relate the station's program to the problems explaining, for example, why one station puts major emphasis on forest influences, another on range management, and still another on rehabilitation of deteriorated commercial forest lands. The administrative organization, a list of personnel and a list of experimental forests and working centers, together with projects conducted at each, are included in most annual reports. A list of papers prepared during the year by station personnel is also included.
These annual reports are invaluable to anyone who wishes to know the current and prospective program of each station, or the status of any particular project. The reports do not generally give background summaries of previous work in various fields or projects, but report principally on current findings. It is obvious that a collateral internal value of the reports is that research workers are compelled to keep reasonably up-to-date in analyses of their own work and thus avoid the pitfall of protracted delays while additional data are being accumulated. There is no completely standard form for these annual reports, and different stations adopt different plans in reporting in detail or in general terms on their work.
Another type of station report, in which the California Forest and Range Experiment Station is experimenting, is a short outline of the work, grouped by the major divisions, such as forest management, forest economics, etc., and giving under each a very brief summary of the major lines of work and the primary problem in land and water use towards which they are oriented. This treatment, together with the brief listing of experimental forests and work conducted at each, provides a useful type of summary to the student who merely requires a broad picture of station progress. Other stations in the system also bring out a similar type of general summary from time to time.
The director of each station endeavors to keep technical publication of results and plans reasonably up-to-date, as the long lists of titles published annually indicate. Technical publication is in a wide variety of forms; when major projects reach a definite stage, it is customary to report on them in the form of publications issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Research workers are also encouraged to prepare articles for technical journals. In addition, each station has its own series of publications issued often in photostat or multilith form. In some cases these summarize very briefly the results and their application to specific projects; in others, they report on experimental techniques. At some stations, series reports on the results of the forest survey are prepared. These various series and forms of reports from individual stations are distributed, through the mailing lists which each station maintains, to technical libraries, forestry schools, etc., which regularly receive the publications from all stations. The advantage of such station publications is the usually up-to-date reporting on interesting or important new developments, of which the final report in more formal publication may not come for many years.
While station notes and reports are sent to interested applicants, it is often difficult to know what to ask for, and thus the recent introduction of a comprehensive bibliography of station publications is a useful innovation.
Emphasis has always been placed on annual progress conferences involving both station staffs and the administrative officers who deal with the practical management problems on the National Forests and on other forest lands as well. The purpose of these conferences is twofold: to subject station work to the practical viewpoints of administrative officers, and to keep them informed of research results which are, or should be, significant in forest administration. This type of conference and the mechanisms devised to maintain collaboration is evidence of the real intent to adapt research work to the current problems of land and water management and to make both research and administration parts of a single team - an objective far more important than that of permitting researchers to follow out personal hobbies to an undefined end.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· Kirghiz Soviet Republic in the northeastern corner of Central Asian Russia is a poorly timbered mountainous region. Its forest-covered area does not exceed 500,000 ha. (1,236,000 acres) of which junipers form 70 percent and Tien-Shan spruce 20 percent; from a timber standpoint it is of no importance. However, what makes the Kirghiz area of economic importance to the whole USSR IS the unique concentration in southern Kirghiz of a large number of wild fruit and nut-bearing trees which include apples, pears, cherries, pistachio, and especially walnuts. From 50 to 75 percent of all the uncultivated fruits and nuts gathered in the USSR come from this area, which is particularly rich in walnuts. The walnuts obtained from southern Kirghiz are claimed to be of superior quality in oil content (75 percent) and albumen they surpass not only French and Spanish walnuts, but also those growing in most of the other Central Asian Republics. Nowhere in the Soviet Union and probably in the entire world, are there such extensive pure walnut stands as on the slopes of the Fergana and Chatkal mountain ranges in this area. In Turkmenia there are reported to be only 25 ha. (62 acres) of pure walnut forests, in Uzbekstan - 150 ha. (370 acres), in Kazakstan - 600 ha. (1,480 acres); in Tadjikestan - 28,000 ha. (69,000 acres), but in southern Kirghiz continuous pure walnut forests occupy some 50,000 ha. (124,000 acres). The Government considers southern Kirghiz as the richest source from which to collect seed of wild fruit and nut trees for reforestation in other parts of the country.
NEW ZEALAND
· The great interest of the New Zealand Forest Service in Pinus radiata, the most widely used conifer in the country, is reflected in the fact that the first issue of " Forest Research Notes " recently started by the Forest Research Institute, is given over to a comprehensive bibliography of the species. The bibliography brings together all known references, arranged chronologically, and is divided into four sections. The first deals specifically with P. radiata, the second lists reference works in which descriptions of P. radials appear, the third, publications dealing not specifically but largely with the species, and the fourth contains miscellaneous references in which the tree is mentioned. The first two sections are believed to be complete. Thus both practicing foresters and research workers will be able to find available material and to determine the still existing gaps in knowledge of the species.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Great interest has been aroused by the announcement of the discovery of a plastic substitute for humus, where the effect of the latter on soil structure is concerned. The new material, called Krilium, has been produced in small quantities in 1952. This substance may prove useful in stabilizing areas of exposed sub-soils and in improving the structure of intensively used soils of high potential productivity. Although the cost may for the time being limit its wide employment, the material is of vital significance in illustrating the possibilities that do exist for the development of cheap, readily available materials which may ultimately be widely used to increase the resources of " problem " soils. In form, it is a fine white powder which can easily be worked into the soil. Its primary effect is to stabilize natural soil aggregates against the dispersing or slaking action of water. In poor soils, the aggregates (that is, the clusters of soil) may range from dust particles to large clods, but these aggregates have low stability to water. When the soil dries, it slakes down to a shiny, crusty surface and the soil shrinks and cracks. In such soil, seeds germinate slowly or may be destroyed as they attempt to push through the surface crust.
In well-conditioned soils, on the other hand, aggregates retain an optimum size ranging from that of a pinhead to that of a pea. There is no surface crust, roots can get the air and water they need, and the spongy soil lets water reach the roots and the subsoil instead of allowing it to be lost by run-off.
CANADA
· The Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, through its Research Division, has devised a new seeding tool which is believed to be the most efficient yet available. It deposits one seed a time at a predetermined depth, the seed being coated so that small and irregular shaped seeds can be more readily handled. Experience to date indicates that one man can seed approximately 5 acres (2.02 ha.) per day at an average spacing of 6 feet (1.8 m.), and that the cost of pelleting and treatment is Can. $ 1.00 per pound of seed ($ 2.20 per kg.). The total cost per acre is around $ 1.50 ($ 3.70 per ha.), depending on species and productivity, as well as the wage rate of the workers. Advantages expected from the method are the ability to select the most favorable spots for the seed, and the reduced probability of their being destroyed by rodents.
· A recent experiment on the effect of slash burning on germination and primary survival of Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) in British Columbia, covered the following soils: 1) unburned with ash added; 2) unburned control; 3) burned, not leached; 4) moderate burn, leached; 5) extreme burn, leached, 6) burn after rain, leached; and 7) burned, humus added, leached.
The major conclusions were: 1) that there was no germination where ash was added to the unburned soil, due to the increased pH of the soil, the hardening of the ash layer and exclusion of oxygen and high concentration of the nutrient solution 2) a higher percentage of organic material results in higher top/root ratio, and thus slash treatments which decrease organic material result in less vigorous seedlings; 3) soils that have not been leached after burning show a slow rate of germination due to high pH.
NEW ZEALAND
· In New Zealand it is recognized as highly important that the individual characters of parent trees of Pinus radiata selected for good form and growth should be perpetuated. Work has been under way for 17 years to study the feasibility of propagation by means of cuttings. Specific questions also included modifications of normal nursery methods for treatment of stock derived from cuttings, time for collecting cuttings, maximum age of parent tree from which cuttings can be successfully propagated, the type of branch and of cuttings giving best results, and the effect of root-stimulating hormones on cuttings. Cuttings were of the following types: (a) heeled and treated with Rootone, (b) heeled but not treated; (c) cut and treated with Rootone; and (d) cut but not treated.
Conclusions are as follows: (a) P. radiata cuttings of the types used in the experiments will strike successfully. The losses by failure are on the whole no greater than with seedling stock after lining out. (2) No special care was necessary in planting, the cuttings slipping easily into the hole made by the trowel. (3) Care had to be taken in cultivation between the lines, as each cutting formed an inverted pyramid in the soil. If this had been disturbed, direct contact with the soil at the base would have been disrupted and newly-formed roots broken off. (4) Wrenching as applied to seedling nursery stock to produce compact fibrous root systems caused difficulties, particularly with heeled cuttings, which were at various depths owing to their irregular lengths. It was found that cuttings needed to be buried at least half their length in the soil if they were to succeed and that rooting was at or near the bottom of each cutting. With the larger heeled cuttings, rooting was often as deep as 6 inches (15 cm.), and special care was necessary. The use of unheeled cuttings, of uniform lengths, greatly reduced difficulties in wrenching. (5) Lifting of cuttings for planting out was no more difficult than the lifting of lined-out seedlings. (6) The best time to collect cuttings from 5 to 7 year old trees is when the terminal over-wintering bud has formed, a stage usually reached in February. Cuttings from the side of the tree on which growth is vigorous are to be preferred. Those from marginal or open-grown trees with about 3/8 inch (0.95 em.) diameter stock-wood and large buds are most resistant to drying-out before roots develop From 2 to 4 year old trees, the best cuttings were provided by the first laterals to be formed in the spring; they are ready for collection from February onwards when they have developed a woody condition. Tops cut from one year seedlings in June almost all failed; those taken in August struck reasonably well. (7) The planting of the stock raised from the cuttings presented no particular problems, the hole made for seedling stock by current practice being large enough for roots to spread horizontally.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A recent number of "Tree Planter's Notes" issued by the Forest Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture presents articles on tree seed, dealing especially with the effect of geographic origin on growth and yield of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and of nursery behavior of red pine (Pinus resinosa). It gives the seed laws of the States of Georgia and New York and the tree seed certification policy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The issue also mentions the availability of a publication " Storing Southern Pine Seed, " Occasional Paper 123 of the Southern Forest Experiment Station This publication states that the best method yet developed is by dry, cold storage which involves refrigerating the seed promptly and continuously at a temperature not exceeding 41° F. and preferably between 32° and 5° F. Moisture content should be constant between 6 and 9 percent for longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and between 9 and 12 percent for other southern pines. The main problems in storage are utilization of a dependable cold-storage locker or warehouse, avoiding injury to the seed during extraction; not letting seed lie too long before extraction, drying and storage; and drying the seed to the right moisture content in the earliest part of the storage period.
· A study of 159 plantations on abandoned fields and eroded lands in North Mississippi and West Tennessee has made possible a classification of planting sites and ability to forecast the probable success of plantations. The major influences governing survival and growth of plantations are soil depth, fertility of the surface soil layer, and soil moisture conditions. Thus the general scheme of site classification depends, first, on whether the soil is more or less than 24 inches (60 cm.) deep, second, on whether the surface 6 inches (15 em.) of soil is mostly topsoil or subsoil and, third, whether the site is moist, as on lower slopes and bottoms, or dry, as on ridges and upper slopes.
Except on the most favorable sites, results from planting hardwoods may be expected to be poor, and native pines, particularly loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) should be used. On good and medium sites as determined by the classification, plantations with 6 by 6 feet (1.8 m. X 1.8 m.) spacings are recommended, and there good survival and good yields of useable timber are to be expected. On the very badly deteriorated and naturally poor sites closer spacing, down to 3 by 8 feet (0.9 m. X 0.9 m.) is recommended, to allow for probable losses. Thus yields v. ill be low and a primary value of plantations is to control erosion which pine plantations do successfully. The more severe the erosion of the site, the greater care is required in selecting the most favorable spots for individual trees and in setting them out correctly.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
A method which has been long known and practiced by gardeners and horticulturists is now finding a wider application in forest planting. The method consists of keeping the roots of seedlings submerged in water for several days before planting them out in the spring. The physiological basis for such practice is this, the seedlings at the time of planting are still in the state of winter rest which is characterized by considerable dehydration of the cells. This is true of seedlings taken from nursery beds, and even more so in the case of seedlings transported over long distances or " heeled in " temporarily pending planting. Yet it is well known that in order to start growth the plants must first become highly saturated with water. Only in this way do the protoplasmic layers and cell walls become distended by fluids and acquire the state of normal turgidity essential to growth. Keeping the roots of the seedlings, prior to planting, for one or two days in water awakens them from the dormant dehydrated state to active growing condition and stimulates early appearance of foliage.
Experiments with activating the growth of seedlings with water were first tried in 1928 with exotic species at the Mokhov Forest Experiment Station in the Province of Orlov. The experiments were so successful that this method is now applied to all species being planted. In all cases there was 100 percent initial survival and vigorous healthy growth thereafter. Some of the plantations are now 18, 19 and 20 years old and they are all marked by high survival and excellent growth. It was found that seedlings so treated start growing 4-5 days ahead of untreated seedlings. Roots which were activated by being submerged in water begin growing very soon after planting which in turn stimulates opening of the buds and the appearance of dense foliage. The effects are especially marked in seedlings whose root systems were trimmed. The ability of the seedlings to pass rapidly and energetically within a short time from the dormant winter stage into active growing stage is of great importance where the spring is short and the time of planting is characterized by sharp dry winds. It determines the rate of survival and the future of the entire plantation.
VENEZUELA
· In 1951 a reforestation project was under consideration for the denuded calcareous hills at an altitude of from 500-800 meters (1,600-2,600 ft.) around the town of Valencia and with an average annual rainfall of 1,100 mm. (43 in.). The area to be reforested is estimated to be 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres).
This project presents serious difficulties. The soil is very permeable and has deteriorated on account of burning, overgrazing and shifting cultivation. Vegetation is confined to grasses such as Panicum maximum, Melinis minutiflora and to shrub and scattered fire-resistant tree species (Psidium sp., Couratella americana, Bowdichia virginlioides, Byrsonima crassifolia). Only the dampest areas have maintained tree clumps mainly composed of leguminous species (Cassia moschata, Piptadenia Machaerium, Entorolobium).
The originator of the project proposed that, after property and eventual expropriation rights had been settled and the land adequately protected against fire and excessive grazing, there should be an intermediate stage in the process of reforestation in order to recreate a forest environment. Such reforestation could be carried out by different means simultaneously: natural seeding on land prepared mechanically or by hand around already existing tree clumps - by sowing on very small prepared plots, pot plantations, stump plantations, and normal plantations preference being given at a later date to the methods which have proved to be most successful. The principal species to be planted either as seed or in plantations are likely to be Bowdichia virgilioides and Byrsonima crassifolia.
FINLAND
· Felling contests have often been arranged in Finland and have aroused much interest both locally and abroad. After an interval of a few years, the idea was revived in 1951 and in October-November arrangements were made for the biggest contests held so far in which the State took an active part.
The contests were divided into three stages: communal heats, contests for the labor district championships, and for the State championship; the competitions consisted exclusively in the felling of pulpwood and fuelwood for common use.
The communal heats covered five consecutive days, the working time being 8 hours a day. The competitions between the labor districts were so arranged that the competitors were felling 8 hours a day on three alternate days and intermediate days they spent repairing their equipment and listening to experts giving advice on efficient working methods. The contests for the State championship took place between 27-30 November, and were arranged in such a way that competitors participated in the felling for 3 days, working 7 hours a day, and spent one day chosen by lot, following the working methods and technique of other competitors.
More than 1,500 men reported for the communal contests. From each of these 1530 competitors were chosen for the contests for the labor district championship. The central committee of the contests invited 35 competitors to the State championship contests.
In each class of the contest many prizes were given. Prizes for the state championship were: 1st, the title of Statemaster and 100,000 mk; 2nd, the title of second Statemaster and 50,000 mk; 3rd, the title of third Statemaster and 30,000 mk; 4th 25,000 mk; 5th, 15,000 mk, 6th, 10,000 mk. Souvenir prizes and diplomas were also given and a great number of presents donated privately.
Earlier felling contests proved to be of considerable importance in arousing greater interest in forestry among the people. The workers' interest increased not only because they were able to see what results could be reached with the best possible equipment and well organized work but also because they noticed the greater general public interest in their work.
UNITED KINGDOM
· Machinery used in forest nurseries and for the preparation of ground for afforestation closely follows agricultural practice, and it is mainly for extraction work that specialist machinery is required. Methods of extraction are changing in Great Britain as the main volume of the work is no longer the clear felling of mature trees but the extraction of thinnings in small sizes. Machinery developed for handling large individual loads cannot be used economically where comparatively small loads are spread over a wide area, as occurs in the early stages of silvicultural thinnings of plantations, and it is to deal with this situation that new machinery is now being developed. Not only must a small output per acre be economically handled, but distances to reach road-going vehicles in young forests are often great, and broken ground on steep hillsides is a frequent obstacle. The headquarters of the Forestry Commission maintains a machinery branch which (a) keeps contact with the agricultural engineering industry to watch any new development which may be useful for forestry, (b) initiates the design and production of special new forestry machinery.
Under (b) above, current development covers:
1. Cableways and chutes designed for easy erection on inaccessible sites where simpler methods are not applicable.2. Mechanical loading of thinnings at the roadside.
3. Light tractors small enough to enter plantations in the early thinning stage.
4. Methods of providing transport over soft ground.
5. Mechanization of nursery processes such as cultivating machinery, seed sowing, root pruning, spraying, etc.
6. Ploughs for the preparation of ground for afforestation.
7. Mechanical methods for the removal of bark from posts and pitprops.
Information on new specialist machinery is available to owners of woodlands and also to the timber trade. Arrangements have been made for courses of instruction to be held periodically at which new machinery is described and demonstrated. Items of machinery are also exhibited at the major agricultural shows throughout the country.
Machinery of foreign origin is in some cases imported by the Forestry Commission but it is usual for foreign manufacturers to have an agent in Great Britain; where no agent exists woodland owners may, subject to import regulations, obtain equipment direct from abroad.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The Department of Industrial Relations, State of California, through its Division of Industrial Safety, has issued safety orders affecting logging and sawmill work. These include the following specific activities: use of hand tools; logging operations in general; felling, limbing, bucking and peeling; power saws; tractor yarding; donkey engines and donkey logging; lines, blocks and rigging; loading logs; motor trucks and trailers; log and lumber trucking, truck driving; private logging roads and logging railroads; blasting; log dumps, ponds and booms; stacking and unstacking machinery; veneer and plywood plants; pulp and paper mills; lath, shingle and shake mills. A vast number of safety devices and practices have been developed over the years, and these are taken into account in the very comprehensive set of orders.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· At the conclusion of the second year of the Colorado Spruce Bark Beetle (Dendroctonus piceiperda) Control Project, a total of 987,000 trees had been treated or felled as trap trees. Important new developments in 1951 were the successful use of trap trees to absorb insect flights and the successful trial of a new insecticide, ethylene dibromide. The cost per tree was $ 3.46 in 1951 which is $1.20 more than in the previous year.
· A feature of a recent meeting of the American Society of Photogrammetry was a symposium covering the uses of aerial photographs in forest protection, believed to be the first ever held on this subject. Experts in different phases of forest protection contributed.
In the control of forest diseases, aerial photographs taken on panchromatic film with a minus-blue filter on a scale of 1:20,000 are widely used in control work on white pine blister rust. Their primary value is in recognition and mapping of Pinus sp. stands preparatory to their selection for control treatment. This involves several steps. The first is to use the pictures to orientate the mapper on the ground. The second is to eliminate non-commercial timber areas or wasteland so that they require no field work. The third step is to identify on the photographs timber types in which the species in question usually does not occur. The fourth step is to determine and Concentrate on timber types in which it is probable that the species is present and to conduct enough ground work to verify its presence.
In fire control, where suitable aerial photographs are available, they may be used as an almost complete intelligence source during major fires. Photography to a scale of 1:20,000 studied by stereoscope enables the analyst to determine the topography types, hazards, barriers and similar facts ahead of the fire and thereby to plan control, and to provide other information needed for suppression measures. Photographs may also be used advantageously in mapping routes for men and machines to reach particular points, especially at night and where men are not already familiar with the terrain. The key to the best use of aerial photographs in forest fire control is in training field personnel to read and interpret the photographs and in the case of major fires, to assign highly skilled interpreters as part of the fire fighting team.
In the control of forest insects, the principal use is in the making of forest insect surveys. By making a mosaic (an overall picture built up from a large number of photographs) available to the observer and by flying over the area, it is possible to locate centers of insect outbreaks accurately. This method is now used on nearly 50 million acres (20 million ha.) of forested lands in the states of Oregon and Washington which are surveyed annually to locate epidemics of the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana). Research is under way to determine the most suitable photographic scale and film filter combinations for direct detection of outbreaks of bark beetles in the ponderosa pine and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) stands of the western United States. Preliminary results so far obtained will require additional testing.
· A recent issue of "Fire Control Notes" has two significant articles in the realm of ideas and planning.
The first of these, by the chief pilot of the California region, U. S. Forest Service, examines the problems involved in the use of the helicopter. Experimental and operational experience with this machine over the past 10 years has settled, for the time being, the operational characteristics and potentialities as well as the costs. Pay loads are from 400 to 1,600 pounds (180-730 kg.); cruising speed about 50 miles (80 km.) an hour; useful range about 2 hours' flying time; and useable ceiling about 9,500 feet (2,900 m.). Perhaps the major potential use for the helicopter is to provide routine control in areas generally inaccessible by roads and trails and where a slow first attack on fires results in much larger outbreaks. Thus in such situations an area plan for helicopter use is needed. This will involve three types of development: (1) the permanent base with all facilities provided; (2) the semi-permanent or satellite base with maintenance, servicing and communications provided; and (3) the occasional field only as large as required and with services provided intermittently as needed.
The development of a satisfactory site for a given area involves, of course, correct decisions on many other sites of different classes and the time and space relation between them. The latter naturally depends on the calculated routine control needed for the forest types involved which may range from as little as 20 minute control to several hours. If the helicopter is to be more than a casual and intermittent tool in fire suppression and is to be depended on for first attack, a new planning job faces executives and research workers.
The second article, written by the Assistant Regional Forester in charge of fire control, also in the California region, considers the existing problems between machines in theory and in practice. The new machines - the helicopter, radio, tractor and bombing plane - are alluring in their potentiality, but they have created organizational problems for their full utilization, and the problem of bringing actual practice up to theory has not been fully solved.
As for the helicopter, the vast increase in speed of detecting major fires and in transporting key men from one sector to another have not been fully prepared for. Dependable observation on an actual fire requires highly skilled and trained observers, not merely a forest officer. Smoke blankets, fog, darkness or excessive wind which make air operations impossible, must also be taken into account, and even though the helicopter may now be the primary machine for first attack or flexibility in big fire operations, the old standard ground travel methods cannot safely be ruled out.
The danger in using tractors is that insufficient men will be employed to backfire promptly from tractor lines. Evidently this is a current failure since many miles of tractor lines built to control major fires have been wasted through failure to backfire promptly.
Theory opens great vistas in the use of planes to bomb out fires or even to induce rain in selected areas. The simplest calculation of number of planes required and the cost of operations to cover vast forest areas with bombing operations indicates the economic impracticability of this temptingly simple method of controlling fires.
However, the advances in mechanization create a twofold problem. Firstly, to determine the conditions which must be satisfied to approach the full potential value of machines in first attack of small fires and in the control of big fires, this will require new kinds of planning and thinking. Secondly, the danger of accepting the potential of the new machines as reality, resulting in neglect of more prosaic, less dramatic ground methods of known worth.
PUERTO RICO
· The Caribbean Forest Experiment Station has developed a new method for determining age in the virgin rain forest of Puerto Rico. The customary technique of counting rings is unreliable, and the new method is based on the mathematical relationship between growth and time, and should solve one of the difficult problems in estimating timber growth in tropical rain forests.
UNITED KINGDOM
· Field work on the Census of British Woodlands was carried out from 1947 through mid-1949, and the office work has now been completed. A great deal of detail is contained in the recently published summary of this comprehensive survey. The main objectives were to map and classify all woodlands of 5 acres (2 ha.) and over, and to obtain an estimate of timber volume and increment of the woods remaining at the time of the survey. Private woodlands were surveyed by specially recruited and trained persons reporting on a standard form, and the Forestry Commission's woodlands were surveyed by staff officers. Over 308,000 separate stands were surveyed. All statistical information is reported separately for England, Scotland and Wales, together with the totals for Great Britain.
The total area of all woodlands is 3,448,662 acres (1,395,674 ha.) but it is estimated that an additional 187,000 acres (76,000 ha.) are in parcels of less than 5 acres (2 ha.). Thus the total area is 3.64 million acres (1.47 million ha.) or about 6 ½ percent of the land surface. Of the total area, 52 percent is in high forest classified as coniferous, broad-leaved or mixed, 10 percent in coppice classified as coppice only or coppice with standards; 1a percent in scrub, 4 percent devastated, 19 percent felled, classified as 8 percent before August 1939, and 11 percent since. Thus the total of scrub, devastated and felled - that is, relatively unproductive woodland - is 38 percent of the total. Slightly over 80 percent of the total woodland area is in private ownership, the remainder in state forests.
The distribution of age classes in total high forest woodlands is as follows: age 110, 14 percent; age 11-20, 16 percent; age 21-30, 10 percent; age 31-40, 5 percent; age 41-60, 7 percent; age 61-80, 8 percent; age 81-120, 9 percent; over 120, 5 percent; uneven aged, 26 percent. Although during recent decades the area of woodland has tended to increase, this increase has been principally in the state forests since, for example, the percentage in age 1-10 is 34 for state forests and only 6 for private woodlands.
Conifers account for 53 percent of the area of high forest, with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) making up 20 percent and European larch (Larix decidua), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) 8 or 9 percent each. Among the broad-leaved species oak totals 24 percent followed by beech with 9 percent. State forests have less Scots pines (P. sylvestris) and European larch (L. decidua) than private forests, but far more Norway (P. abies) and Sitka spruce (P. sitchensis). Of the private woodlands, 83 percent are considered suitable for economic management, 4 percent are doubtful, and the remaining 13 percent are unsuitable.
Volume was estimated in cubic feet quarter-girth measure over bark. Total volume of high forest is 2,506 million cubic feet (71 million cu. m.), about half coniferous and mixed and half broad-leaved. Coppice with standards adds 153 million cubic feet (4.3 million cu. m.). Total current annual volume increment is estimated at 97.:, million cubic feet (2.8 million cu. m.), almost 2/3 of which is in high coniferous forest. In this category, private woodlands account for 34 million cubic feet (0.96 million cu. m.) and state forests for 29.7 million cubic feet (0.84 million cu. m.), whereas in the high broad-leaved forest category, private woodland forest account for 20.8 million (0.59 million cu. m.) and state forests for only 1 million cubic feet (0.028 million cu. m.).
GERMANY
· The period between 1890 and 1910 was marked in German forestry by a transition from light to heavy thinkings and the preparation of yield tables based on intensive thinnings. In a book entitled Zwischen Schwacher und Starker Durchforstung, the author, Dr. Hermann Kunanz, with the aid of new material, analyzes the effect of such heavy thinnings on the total yield and on the sustained and productive capacity of the forest. Considering the many variables that enter into the problem, such as the biological characteristics of the species, the quality of the site, the density and the age of the stands this effect naturally varies with different conditions. The general trend however, is toward lowering the total yield for the entire rotation period and decreasing the productive capacity of the forest. The study covers the beech, spruce, pine, and oak forests of Germany with special reference to the forests of the author's native state, Hesse. This is a highly technical treatise of particular interest to specialists in forest mensuration, although the results are of general application to the whole field of forest management.
JAPAN
· A study of the management of private coniferous forests in Japan by two American foresters shows that, in general, the private forests are being seriously damaged by heavy exploitation and destructive cutting practices Although the forests of Japan cover 68 percent of the land area, conifers comprise only 15 percent of the forest area but provide 85 percent of the sawlogs cut annually. Since 78 percent of the coniferous forest is in private ownership, it is private forest management which must solve the insistent problem of providing material for construction and wood pulp, and of combatting floods and erosion. The situation is so serious that, unless effective action is taken to lower the rate of cutting, the saw timber will be practically depleted within 15 years, and a timber crisis will develop which will severely effect the whole economy.
The program recommended is designed to: (1) place the forests on sustained yield basis; (2) improve forest practices; (3) lessen erosion and floods from forest areas; (4) develop unproductive wastelands into valuable forest; (5) provide constructive employment for those deprived of work through the reduction of fellings; (6) give the national government the necessary supervisory powers to make the program effective, (7) be reasonable in cost as compared with the benefits to be derived. In order to implement the program, legislation is required providing for state control of timber cutting on all private lands except very small holdings, for field inspection, and for expanded services.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The larch (Larix occidentalis) - Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) stands of the Upper Columbia Basin have been and are being cut over in many ways, and a method for predicting future growth of residual stands is needed for use in management plans. Several variables are involved: size of trees, period of time after logging, vigor of trees density of the reserve stand, precipitation, number of trees growing into the 10 inch (25.4 cm.) DBH class at various intervals after logging, mortality of reserve trees at different intervals. Recently the Northern Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station has prepared tables and worked out methods of application whereby forest managers may predict future growth of reserve stands, and determine the intensity of cutting under selection systems, and the kind of trees to cut or leave.
· The watershed management research in Southern California, carried on for 25 years by the California Forest and Range Experiment Station, has established a sound basis for estimating the effect of denuding watersheds by fire. In general, the results are as follows:
|
Size of storm |
Increase in peak flow following fire |
Period of return to normal flow |
|
Times |
Years |
|
|
Small |
10-30 |
20 |
|
Medium |
3-10 |
40 |
|
Large |
2-3 |
60 |
During the first year after complete burning of good chaparral cover the erosion rate is increased about 35 times, and during the period of 8 to 10 years before erosion rates return to normal, they average 9 to 10 times those before burning These rates are greatly increased if deep gullying follows fire, but quantitative measurements have not yet been obtained. Annual erosion rates on areas unburned for 10 years or more vary from 640 to as much as 6,100 cubic yards per square mile (1891,801 cu. m. per km2) on different watersheds, reflecting geological and soil factors. Annual erosion rates the first year after fire vary from about 19,000 to over 176,000 cubic yards per square mile (5,609-51,957 cu. m. per Km2).
This work indicates clearly the extreme importance of maintaining mature stands of undamaged chaparral and the serious effect of even moderate-sized fires on useable water-flows and on the storage capacity of reservoirs in individual watersheds.
AUSTRALIA
· The disastrous fires of 1939 in Victoria, Australia, killed large volumes of Eucalyptus regnans, and the problem of methods of salvage was undertaken by the Forest Product Laboratory. Earlier experience had shown that standing fire-killed trees lasted a far shorter time than those which were felled and covered by undergrowth, experiments therefore dealt with prompt felling and dumping under continuous water sprays which appeared to offer a chance for better salvage yields. The result v. as a 56 percent recovery, based on full cut quarter-sawn material, or 41 percent for standard grade or better, based on rigid grading Both these figures are regarded as satisfactory. The percentage recovery of standard grade v as highest in middle logs (56 percent), intermediate in butt logs (38 percent), and lowest with top logs (29 percent). The general conclusion of the study is that with dumping and spraying fire-killed timber, satisfactory utilization can be obtained for at least 9 years after the fire. Further work is planned comparing other salvage methods.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A patent has been granted to technical officers of the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison for a method of reducing shrinkage, swelling and hygroscopicity of wood. The wood is kiln-dried to a moisture content of 2 to 4 percent, then exposed to water-flee formaldehyde vapor and subsequently to water-flee nitric acid in vapor form the chemical treatment being carried out at 140° to 230° F. Length of treatment depends on thickness of the wood. So far the treatment has been successful on wood veneer, and holds promise as an effective treatment of other lignocellulose materials for stabilizing dimensions of wooden articles.
· In recent years much experimental work has been carried out on direct-heat kilns in which the heat generating mechanism is close-coupled with the drying chamber and is an integral part of the kiln. The main advantage is that the kiln is an independent unit, requiring no boiler, and is thus suited to the needs of small mills and remanufacturing plants which have no steam plants. Other advantages are: (1) the economy of operation, since the heat production per unit of fuel is immediately available for utilization in the drying chamber; (2) the moisture generated by fuel combustion is available for controlling the humidity within the kiln, a feature particularly valuable with species requiring high humidity during drying; (3) this type of equipment is relatively easy to operate; (4) both initial cost and operating costs are low.
The main disadvantages are: (1) the fire hazard, although recent gas and oil burning kilns have been designed to reduce it; (2) there are still difficulties in attaining the final high degree of humidity required for stress relief, although this problem is gradually being solved. There al e several types of direct heat kilns under commercial test, and further improvement of design is to be expected, a for the past 15 years the Northeastern Wood Utilization Council has been concerned with methods of utilizing low-grade wood as fuel, as a means of encouraging and making practicable a vast amount of improvement cutting needed in the forests of the north-eastern region. One of its earlier bulletins, " How to Burn Wood," has gone through six editions and is recognized as authoritative. In 1951 the Council held a conference on wood fuel at which authorities on various aspects of the subject presented papers dealing with general aspects of fuel, and with the most recent advances in stick wood, chipped wood and briquets; the conference also produced a handbook on the use of wood for fuel.
Oven-dried wood of any species has a calorific value of about 8,600 b.t.u. compared with about 12,000 for anthracite and about 14,500 for the highest grade of steam coal. Moisture in the wood greatly reduces the useable heat which is 7,100 b.t.u. for oven-dried wood, 5,700 for air-dried, and only 3,400 for green wood. Gross calorific values have been established for the principal species and the number of air-dried cords required to equal 2,000 pounds (900 kg.) of anthracite coal varies from 0.98 for rock elm (Ulnius thomasi) to 2.00 for black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) among the hardwood species, and from 1.35 for western larch (Larix occidentalis) to 2.40 for balsam fir (Abies balsamea) among the soft-woods.
The decline in use of wood fuel has been due principally to increasing labor costs of making and transporting fuel wood by traditional hand methods. Modern advances in mechanization have made it possible to cut the man-days per cord to one-third or less of the traditional figure. The improvements include the one-man chain saw, the crawler tractor with a rear-mounted winch, the bucking ladder or bucking chute, mechanical splitters, explosive wedges on circular rip saws for splitting, conveyor loaders, steel strap or cable for packing bundles of a cord or more, and booms for loading. Equipment is now available to produce fuel as sawdust, hog fuel or chipped fuel. Gravity feed stoves have been perfected to handle and burn efficiently the various forms of chipped fuel, the main requirement being that the chips are cubical, range from ¼ in. (0.64 cm.) down in size, and contain a good percentage of very fine material which has good flow characteristics.
A spreader stoker has been developed for firing wood and coal mixtures in multiple fuel furnaces. Machines have been perfected to utilize forest waste, with no additional material, so as to produce briquet fuel 3 to 3½ times the original density, so firmly knit that it sheds less dust in handling than most solid fuels. The briquets are small cylinders 1½ inches (3.8 cm.) in diameter, broken into short lengths having an average heat value of 9,000 b.t.u. per pound. This fuel is marketed in bags and is therefore readily handled.
The use of modern methods and equipment needs to be widely promoted as a means of creating a market for much low-grade forest material.
INDIA
· A short pamphlet of less than 25 pages has been published containing the principal recommendations made to the Government of Assam by the Chief of the Indian Forest Service following his recent visit. It delineates in lucid summary the main problems facing the State of Assam both in the sphere of general forest policy and in silvicultural methods and administration, without at the same time neglecting certain questions of temporary interest, such as the salvage of timber carried away by rivers following the earthquake of August 1950, which caused serious damage in the north-east of Assam.
Situated in the extreme north-east of the sub-continent of India against the foothills of the Himalayas, Assam is topographically rugged, a feature which has carried it through numerous vicissitudes of history, but which, further aggravated by the serious obstacle of the Brahmaputra, has not only deprived it of good communications but isolated it from the recent political changes. The rugged character of the land naturally affects its forest policy and the report rightly recommends that this policy, up to now based on the production of sal (Shorea robusta) and teak (Tectona grandis) should be directed towards the development of industries using pyrethrum, quinine, tanning and medicinal herbs, etc., all products the transport of which outside the province is simpler than that of timber. This also applies to the paper industry, which has a promising future on account of important supplies of bamboo.
The report also emphasizes the lack of reserve forests which constitute barely 13 percent of the total land surface of Assam and only 19 percent of the forested area. Private forests cover 60 percent of the hills and the vast plateau of Shillong and are subjected to harmful and uncontrolled shifting cultivation, here known has " jhuming. " As elsewhere, the solution of the problem of shifting cultivation requires the joint efforts of all concerned with the development of agriculture, grazing, silviculture and forest industries. The author of the report estimates that, by reason of the topography, the high rainfall (it holds the world record with an average annual rainfall of 12 m. 50 [492 in.] at Churapuji) concentrated in the four months of the monsoon season, and the speed of growth, at least 2a percent of the country should be given over to permanent forests.
The report continues with some interesting comments on the planting of suitable non-coniferous species with a view to assuring a regular supply to match and veneer factories, and also on the planting of Cinchona sp. and Acacia mollissima. Particularly noteworthy is the recommendation for extending the method of regenerating Pinus khasia, which consists in endeavoring to regenerate on plots of land where potatoes have been planted for one or two years. This method, which turns a costly operation into a profitable one has been favorably received by growers in the districts concerned, who obtain exceedingly rich crops.
Finally the report deals with the question of the re-organization of the Assam Forest Service and emphasizes in particular the need to revise forest management at regular intervals. Stating that in more than half the forest divisions of the country the working plans had expired without having been revised, the author Concludes: " The seriousness of the situation can only be realized if it is remembered that in the adjoining States of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, any private owner forfeits the right of managing his own forest should he be found without a propel working plan. "
ISRAEL
· During 1950/51 a start was made with the implementation of the Government's large-scale afforestation plan which is to comprise the planting of about 100 million trees during the course of the next ten years. The long term object of the plan is soil conservation and improvement, as well as the establishment of a home supply of forest products which are very limited at present. The rate of planting, however, is determined by short term considerations of employment: afforestation work affords large employment possibilities for unskilled labor, enabling new immigrants to be usefully employed without necessitating large capital investments in equipment, etc. Afforestation is carried out by the Government's Department of Forests, as well as by private trusts. The following figures refer to Government activities only, but they reflect the extent and impetus of afforestation work:
|
Sum spent on afforestation |
£ 1790000 |
|
Number of working days |
363000 |
|
Number of trees planted |
3140000 |
|
Number of tree seedlings supplied to other users |
3690000 |
|
Areas planted |
|
|
Mountainous areas: |
dunam1 |
|
a) New plantations |
13230 |
|
b) Replacements |
4530 |
|
Sand dunes |
1750 |
|
Stream banks. etc |
250 |
|
Sundry |
325 |
1 dunam = approximately 1/10 hectare.
In addition, the planting of trees along the highways was continued. Whilst 95 km. (59 miles) were planted in 1950, 211 km. (131 miles) were planted during the current year, comprising 397,000 trees.
Research activities have been extended. The Government Forest Research Station has added to its laboratories and has extended the scope of its work which includes ecology, genetics, forest products utilization, variety trials, etc. Special attention is being paid to the exploration of afforestation possibilities in the Negev.
The administration and tending of existing forest reserves is engaging the attention of the Department. Grazing in forest reserves is being strictly controlled and it is noteworthy that the absence of flocks has already brought about remarkable instances of regeneration in areas where vegetation was previously confined to a sparse cover of low shrubs. Although the State is at present facing considerable economic difficulties to the solution of which an afforestation program cannot in the short run contribute, it is felt that the long-term benefits will fully justify the effort being made.
JAPAN
· To rectify the geographically unbalanced distribution of national forests, the Law for National Forest Temporary Reorganization was passed by the Diet in 1951. This enables either the sale of national forests which do not need to be operated by the National Government, to local bodies and other organizations considered capable of managing them properly, or exchange of national forests in return for more suitable private forests. The national forests coming under the law are: (1) isolated and small national forests; (2) national forests which cannot easily be worked with other national forests due to transportation difficulties; (3) national forests intermingled with private forests and difficult to operate, (4) national forests managed for the purpose of supplying firewood and charcoal to local inhabitants for their own use. The sale or exchange of a national forest is made to local self-governing bodies, etc., in whose areas the forest is located. Under this law, the Government is planning to sell forests of 225,830 hectares (558,030 acres) and stumpage of 10 million m3 (353 million cu. ft.) in the next three years.
NEW ZEALAND
· An integrated newsprint, pulp, and timber industry, based on the Kaingaroa State forest in the center of North Island, will be operated by the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company, and the Government's contribution will include provision of a harbor and railway, and power transmission lines.
The enterprise may be started early in 1952 and established in about three years. It will be the largest single industrial plant ever established in New Zealand and will provide an ample supply of newsprint and other products, with a large surplus of export to Australia.
SWAZILAND
· The British Colonial Development Corporation is said to be planning a newsprint mill in an area of Swaziland where there are already extensive pine plantations.
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
· It has been reported that Canadian and South African interests are planning to establish South Africa's first newsprint mill, using pine pulpwood grown in East Transvaal. The project would involve an investment of over $10 million.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The legal history of the National Forests and of the U. S. Forest Service began with the Act of 3 March 1891, which was the basis for the creation of National Forests by executive action. Since that time many additional laws have been passed by the Congress of the United States as new problems were recognized. Periodically the U. S. Department of Agriculture revises and brings up to date a publication giving the various laws which govern operation; the latest revision is that of May 1951.
· The Yale Law Journal has prepared a concise and comprehensive statement dealing with the management of public (i.e., nationally owned) land resources. The text itself is brief, but there are 188 citations to establish the points made. Essentially the paper examines the contrasting competence of the U. S. Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior in the management of timber range, and watersheds on the public lands, as a background for taking a position on the report of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, the so-called Hoover Commission, which reported in 1949.
In the Commission's work it was universally agreed that consolidation of the Forest Service and the Bureau was necessary, but as already described in Unasylva the groups studying the two departments disagreed as to where the consolidation should take place. The Commission decided on Agriculture, and the majority choice was good for several reasons. First, the Forest Service's research facilities are far more extensive than those of the Bureau of Land Management and the Service receives assistance from other Agriculture research bureaus. Second, the Forest Service has a better conservation record the improving condition of national forest, range and timber is directly attributable to the success of Forest Service policies. Third, the Forest Service has maintained independence from users of range land, whereas the Bureau has been forced to cede many of its powers to the stockmen whose activities it is supposed to regulate. Finally, Congress apparently lacks confidence in the Bureau, and its approval of a consolidation of range and forest administration in that agency seems too much to hope for; the Forest Service, on the other hand, has wide public support for its efficient and impartial practices. Unification of public range and forest activities in agriculture is both a practical and desirable short-range objective.
This is an admirable and dispassionate examination of a problem of paramount importance to public land management in the U.S.A.
