FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH AND INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED STATES. W. W. Varossieau. pp. 793. J. M. Meulenhoff. Amsterdam. 1954. Fl. 45. - .
This compendium of information on the wood industries of the United States is a fitting example of the kind of task at which the late Dr. Varossieau excelled: the compilation of multitudinous facts and information, and giving to others in an easily assimilable form the benefit of a wide knowledge gained in the most highly developed countries of the world. Dr. Varossieau's untimely death while on leave from an FAO technical assistance assignment in Iran, robbed the Organization of a highly competent and useful officer.
Scientific and practical knowledge are strongly interwoven in the United States. The famous Forest Products Laboratory at Madison is largely involved in industrial projects of many different firms. The industry in its turn supports the Forest Products Laboratory and has set up a great many private regional laboratories. The book gives information on forest resources to show the background from which the wood industries arose and to explain their course of development. He describes work on the origin and structure, composition and physical and mechanical properties of wood - the knowledge which is instrumental in obtaining a maximum profit from the raw material and in developing new techniques in wood utilization.
The author says, typically, that he considered it "his obligation to make available the information given him so freely in the United States". The form in which he has done this represents a volume of permanent reference value.
FORESTRY. H. G. Champion, pp. 230. Oxford University Press. Home University Library of Modern Knowledge. 1954. Oxford. 6 shillings.
This excellent little book has not been written for those who are already familiar with the subject, but for the layman who wants to know more about forestry. It should be especially valuable for schools.
Professor Champion aims at presenting a comprehensive but simple survey of his subject, and a clear idea of the part forests and forestry play in the general picture of human activities and welfare. The whole subject is approached from the general point of view with the exception of the last chapter dealing with forestry in the United Kingdom.
The author thinks that in forestry perhaps undue stress has been placed on the importance of production of wood, and only delayed recognition has been given to the very vital role of forests in protecting soil and water supplies, in providing shelter to man and beasts and crops, and in holding up unstable hillsides or fixing sand-hills liable to move with the wind and bury good land. The protective action of forest cover, which in no way reduces its productive value, is today receiving ever-increasing recognition so that "one may venture the prediction that the time will come when it will be considered the primary contribution of the forest to human welfare".
THINNING PROBLEMS AND PRACTICES IN DENMARK. C. H. Möller, J. Abell, T. Jagd, and F. Juncker. pp. 92. Illus. World Forestry Series Publication No 1. College of Forestry at Syracuse, State University of New York. 1954. $0.80.
Dean H. Shirley and Professor S. O. Heiberg of the College of Forestry at Syracuse are to be congratulated on this first publication in their World Forestry Series. The expressed belief that the exchange of ideas and results will promote more fruitful discoveries by scientists echoes one of the basic principles of the FAO Forestry Division. As a means of furthering such exchange, therefore this new World Forestry Series of publications is welcomed.
The articles on thinning which make up this publication will undoubtedly contribute to the thinking of foresters who are concerned with this phase of silviculture. The discussion of the influence of thinning on volume increment, as well as the description of various thinning methods, and the philosophy behind them, deserves attention. Even though the conditions which make it possible to use such intensive thinning methods in Denmark do not occur in many countries, the theories presented should prove stimulating.
It is interesting to note that even in Denmark with its 150 years of experience, there is not yet agreement on methods, frequency, or intensity of thinning. The summary of related investigations outside Denmark where the range of soil and climatic conditions is greater, reveals even less agreement.
This publication thus suggests the need of so designing future thinning experiments as to permit valid comparisons of results. Modern principles of experimental design should help in this direction.
DIE ERNTE DES HOLZES (Harvesting of Wood). H. Gläser. pp. 150. Illus. Wirtschafts-und Forstverlag Euting KG. Neuwied/Rhein. 1954. DM. 6. 90.
The author, a forest administrator and, singe 1945, a lecturer at the Forestry Faculty at Göttingen University, has produced a comprehensive and up-to-date study of work efficiency as applied to logging operations. This science, still in its infancy, has already been given application in other industrial fields, but has been slower in affecting forest operation where work must be decentralized and is therefore harder to organize. Organization is, nevertheless, indispensable singe, for instance, modern selection cutting places a great responsibility on the loggers in the field, and makes good organization from the top essential in order that available manpower may be used to the greatest advantage.
The author discusses the basic principles of wood harvesting, the physiology of workers, logging equipment, and logging costs including wage scales and efficiency investigations. (See p. 165 of this issue). The result is a concise and readable text book for forest worker training centers, and will also prove useful for forest owners and administrators, and logging operators in countries of temperate climatic conditions.
FULL-TREE LOGGING. A. Koroleff. pp. 100. Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada. Montreal. 1954. Can. $3.50.
Full-tree skidding, moving felled trees complete with crowns from stump to landing, is a rather new development hardly known in most countries. It seems to offer a number of attractive possibilities for saving costs, wherever its application is feasible, such as possibilities for increased labor productivity, better supervision full utilization of the tree harvest slash disposal and better fire protection. However, little research has been carried out on it, so that knowledge about its practical feasibility is still quite rudimentary. In this preliminary study, Mr. Koroleff brings together all information on the subject available at the present time. It is in his own words, a progress report.
Many features of full-tree logging appear to be of definite advantage especially in clear-cut logging of virgin and uniform stands, such as in northern pulpwood operations. It has, for instance, already been reported from certain operations that skidding with full crowns (the branches acting as sliding medium and shock absorbers) has resulted in a decrease of damage as compared with log skidding.
It is to be hoped that this study may induce logging operators and research organizations to look more deeply into the matter of full-tree logging. The information which it contains will enable them to approach the method pragmatically, without losing much time on preliminary investigations.
