The appearing here are condensed from newsworthy material collected by FAO staff or submitted by correspondents. FAO assumes no responsibility for statements and statistics in items accepted in good faith from contributors.
Alaska
· The third, and by far the largest, contract for sale of National Forest timber in Alaska involves about 500,000 acres (202,350 ha.) near Juneau. A large pulp mill is to be constructed and the timber will be removed over a term of 50 years under the principles of sustained yield management. The initial installation is to be completed by 1961 with an annual cut of at least 100 million board feet (453,000 m3) which is to be increased over the next 20 years to a minimum requirement of 160 million board feet (724,800 m3).
Argentina
· A report to the Latin-American Forestry Commission says that, in the forests in the south of Argentina, management systems are being studied for longs (Nothofagus pumilio), coihué (N. dombeyi), ñire (N. antarctica), ciprés (Libocedrus chileneis) and pehuén (Araucaria araucana). Each of these species, in its climax area, forms pure stands or is mixed with an underwood of medium-sized shrubs.
Nothofagus pumilio is one of the main species in sub-antarctic forests and is found from the Neuquén Territory to Tierra del Fuego (38°-54° lat. S.), in the north occurring on mountain slopes up to 1,000 meters and in the south up to 400 meters. In the areas where the climate is favorable (Rio Negro, Chubut and Neuquén), the species occurs in uniform stands usually of over-mature trees, so that conditions are propitious for the spread of insects, fungi and fires. The present management plans aim at complete logging of these mature stands so that they may be gradually replaced by young trees of satisfactory growth.
In its climax areas Libocedrus chilensis also forms pure, even-aged stands or grows mixed with coihué and ñire. Silviculture concentrates on the extraction of the over-mature or defective trees in successive stages. New stands must be of a suitable density in order to prevent the lateral branching characteristic of this species, and HO increase the output of industrial timber. Thinning systems are designed with this end in view.
In the case of both lenga and ciprés, the aim is to replace these with known species whose adaptability and growth have been proved.
Araucaria araucana, very important for its industrial uses, forms pure even-aged stands and grows at altitudes of 1,000 meters. It is also found in association with lenga. The age of the existing stands is 150-200 years and more, and the annual increment is very small. Experiments have indicated that to obtain a regular yield, selection cuttings should be made at long intervals in order to protect the young plants from unfavorable weather factors. To scours the reforestation of the cut-over areas, direct seeding is supplemented by planting.
Australia
· The Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Melbourne) has announced to the Australian House of Representatives that experiments had shown that a thin film of cetyl alcohol spread over the surface of water reduced evaporation by 50 percent or more. In the laboratory evaporation has been reduced by 80 percent. The process was simple and cheap and tests which were expected to be completed within 12 months, were very promising. The process could be of outstanding importance in saving Australia's water, particularly in arid areas.
· Since 1946, experiments have been carried out on the resin-tapping of plantations of Pinus caribaea established by the Forestry Commission on the northern coast of New South Wales. The project has involved the study of three types of faces American, New American and French - the effect of acid stimulation on gum flow, the effect of temperature on yield, the effect of two faces per tree on the yield per face, and the effect of tapping on the growth rate of trees.
The yields of the American and New American methods were approximately equal, that of the French method considerably less. Acid stimulation increased gum yield for the- first season only. Yield, particularly from acid stimulated faces, fell off markedly after the first season. Two faces per tree increased the yield per tree over one face, but the average yield per face decreased. Faces on the side of the tree receiving maximum sunlight yielded no more gum than faces on the opposite side. The growth rate of tapped trees was reduced significantly.
The yields in the experiment were considerably less than those obtained in other countries, but the diameter of the tree was less than in the United States and the faces were smaller than those customarily used. Additional work on a new site and involving new subjects of study is planned.
Canada
· An article by a member of the Ottawa Laboratory in a recent issue of the Forest Products Journal, published by the Forest Products Research Society, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A., discusses means and methods for more economic use of wood in manufacturing containers and pallets.
Industrial expansion in Canada continues and many people often fail to realize the impact of this development on what may be termed the service industries. Among these, the containers industry plays an import tent role, Whatever the material used for their manufacture, containers of an endless variety of sizes and weight. bearing capacity must be produced to package the stream of goods that must be transported from producer to consumer. Until fairly recent times, wood, with few exceptions, was used in the production of shipping containers. With the introduction of fibreboard and metals to the container field, wooden containers of all sorts are being replaced by containers manufactured from other materials. While the total volume of containers continues to grow, there has been a steady downward trend in the use of those made from wood. Data supplied by the Canadian Bureau of Statistics shows that although the net national income nearly doubled in the period 1946-51, the value of wooden containers and box shooks produced in 1951 was $34 million compared to $36 million in 1946.
The work of the Containers Unit of the Forest Products Laboratories of Canada aims at determining and assessing the many factors involved in the suitability and effectiveness of containers. In doing so, use and production trends are noted, and when it becomes apparent - as is the case with wooden containers - that an unfavorable situation is developing, an analysis of the causes is attempted.
· It is reported that the Government will finance the building of a $2 million pulp and paper research laboratory to be located near Montreal. The laboratory would be operated by the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada under a 99-year lease. Plans are well advanced, and the project may be completed by the end of 1956.
The aim of the new laboratory would be to help Canada catch up with the Scandinavian countries in pulp and paper research. Although Canada is the world's leading producer and exporter of newsprint, the country is still behind Sweden, for instance, in research.
Caribbean
· The first interest in forestry shown by the Caribbean Commission which is made up of representatives of France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, was the convening of a Conference of Caribbean Foresters and the publishing of a report entitled Forest Research Within the Carribbean Area. Following a recommendation by the Fourth Session of the West Indian Conference, the Commission decided to hold a conference on Caribbean timbers, their utilization and trade within the area.
The Conference was held in Port of Spain at the Commission's headquarters, in April 1953. Canada and the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Turrialba, Costa Rica, also sent observers.
The recommendations of the Conference may be summarized as follows;
1. Forestry: The strengthening of government forest departments to secure better utilization of forest resources, improved communications to and within forest areas, adoption of systematic management, improved storage, handling and market facilities.2. Shipping and freight rates: The Caribbean Commission to approach various shipping authorities in the region with a view to securing reduction in freight rates, increased intra-Caribbean service, supply ships more suitable for lumber, elimination of the necessity for transshipment, better port, landing and storage facilities.
3. Group marketing: Forest departments, in consultation with the timber trade, to compile lists of lesser known timbers to permit group marketing. Governments of producing countries to take lead in utilization of these grouped timbers by purchasing them for public purposes.
4. Manufacture: Governments to encourage, by every possible means, the better manufacture of forest products, emphasis to be given to better milling, preservation and drying practices.
5. Standardization: Governments and timber trade to introduce uniform milling sizes and grades.
6. Statistics: Steps to be taken by governments in the compilation of statistics of forestry and regional statistics submitted to the Conference by the central secretariat to be completed and published by the Commission for general use.
7. Tariffs: Governments to study possibility of reducing customs duties on timber products with a view to facilitating regional trade in these commodities.
8. Timbers: Compilation, for publication, with assistance of the United States Tropical Forest Region in Puerto Rico, of lists of timbers of present and potential regional importance.
9. Promotion and education: Governments to educate the public in the value of forests and in the availability and use of local timbers by such means as the radio, school curricula, local government publications and propaganda films.
10. Co-ordination: Caribbean Commission to appoint suitable officer to undertake co-ordination and dissemination of information on all matters pertaining to forestry and timber trade within the region.
The Commission accepted the report of the Conference and action has since been taken to implement the recommendations. FAO has provided an officer to study the possibilities for pulp and board manufacture in the area, and another officer is now advising on timber marketing.
Egypt
· The Egyptian National FAO Committee reports that in order to develop the country's resources of forests, the Ministry of Agriculture established in 1953, a Permanent Committee for Forests and Timber Trees, including representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Public Works and Faculties of Agriculture. The Committee formulated a national policy for the development of timber trees based on the following principles:
1. A growth study of different species, indigenous or exotic, should be made throughout the country.2. A study of the physical and mechanical properties of wood of the different species grown in Egypt is to be made.
3. A program should be launched for the importation of more timber tree seeds from countries on the same ecological range.
4. Sustained annual supply of tree seedlings must be established to meet the demands of tree planting and afforestation throughout the country.
5. The plantation of timber trees should be confined to the following areas:
(a) Land that is definitely unsuitable for agriculture or pasture purposes owing to the nature of the soil, remoteness or topography. The only possible use to which such land can be put is the growing of timber trees. Areas of such a nature are located on the coastal region of northern Egypt, Kom Osheim (Fayoum Province), Sinai mountains, and the sand dunes of northeastern Egypt, Amirya, etc.(b) Areas which surround the big cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. Such areas, when covered with timber trees, will decrease the intensity of prevailing winds and prevent the nuisance of dust. Besides, such trees will also provide shade and serve for other aesthetic purposes.
(c) Areas along highways, roads, drains and canals. According to a present estimate, the length of unplanted roads, canals and drains amount to about 50 000 kilometers (31,000 mi.). Such length, if planted, would be equivalent to an area of 100,000 acres (40,450 ha.) of forest land.
(d) Small areas on farms that are usually left over without use for some physical or economic reasons. Farm woodlots could be established on such lance.
In 1953, a project was formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture for promoting the cultivation of timber trees on a nation-wide basis. This project called for the production of 12 million trees within four years. The trees produced are distributed among the growers in the Nile Valley as well as the desert areas having water resources that allow for the cultivation of timber trees.
The project also aims at the planting of trees in the coastal strip of the Eastern desert, at Boseli near Rosetta, and at the oasis to control Hand dunes.
In 1954, the nurseries of the Ministry of Agriculture (which amount to 25 distributed throughout the country) produced more than 2 million trees as against 1.5 million in 1953. These trees were distributed among the inhabitants, governmental and semi-governmental agencies at a price of 10 milliemes per tree.
The Kena forest, which is located in Upper Egypt, covers about 243 acres (98 ha.) of timber trees. The area of Kom Osheim forest was about 125 acres (50.5 ha.) and 200 additional acres (81 ha.) have been planted to make a total area of 325 acres (131.5 ha.). A few spare areas of about 20 acres (8 ha.) were planted in North Delta provinces. The species used were predominantly Eucalyptus and Casuarina. Other species were also used such as Tamarix caya, mahogany, sesso, Acacia, poplar, maccarium, and a few others. It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned species are not susceptible to plant diseases that might spread to field crops and orchards. All species are successfully growing in all localities and the Casuarina and Eucalyptus trees made exceptionally good growth.
In 1953, the Ministry of Agriculture imported twenty species of Eucalyptus from Brazil, as well as some species of cedar and bauhinia from Iraq. In 1954, the Ministry imported seeds of coniferous trees such as Pinus and Cupressus from Turkey, Acacia and Cupressus from India, and Marksilea from the United States.
Ethiopia
· Included in the celebrations for the Coronation Jubilee of the Emperor of Ethiopia in November was an international exhibition at Addis Ababa. The Minister of Agriculture requested the members of the FAO Mission to Ethiopia to write pamphlets on their respective fields of work for printing and distribution to the visitors at the exhibition. The FAO forestry expert produced a pamphlet entitled The Forest Resources of Ethiopia, based on available reports and his own experience of the country. Ethiopia imports annually about Ethiopian $500,000 worth of wood, wooden furniture and plywood plus about Ethiopian $300,000 worth of paper. This is a somewhat paradoxical situation considering that the country has a climate which is on the whole eminently suitable for forests and that population pressure in many areas is only light. The methodical exploitation of the existing forest resources and the creation of new forests could provide raw material for a considerable expansion of the existing sawmills and for new industries. Five Ethiopians sent under FAO Fellowships are now studying forestry in Australia. On their return, they will form the nucleus of the future Ethiopian forest service.
Guatemala
· Guatemala's forest law was adopted by the Congress of the Republic in 1945. It had certain important deficiencies, however, and in recent months various decrees have been issued with the aim of improving it.
In 1950, the President of the Republic in application of Article 31 of the Forest Law, issued a decree dealing with the control of forest fires which are very severe in the country. The decree orders the formation of fire brigades by all the municipalities of the Republic, to which landowners must contribute in proportion to the size of their holdings, and which must be composed of a minimum of 15 men, and be ready for immediate mobilization on the request of the departmental forest officers or the Chief of the Forest Service.
Since the beginning of 1955, four interesting decrees have appeared. The first and most important is that of 25 May 1955, which sets up a National Forest fund. One of the principal obstacles to forestry development in most Central American countries is the insufficiency or uncertainly of funds for use by the forest cervices, which in any case are not strong. Guatemala's forest fund will derive income from the sale of forest products from State forests, from tax on the extraction of rubber and resins, from entrance fees to the National Parks, fines imposed for infringement of forest laws and from a tax on fellings. This degree revokes the part of the forestry law which enforced the replanting of a certain number of trees for each one felled.
Another decree, issued on the occasion of "Tree Week," created ten National Parks, one forest of about 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) under a plan of management and two experimental forests. It is the responsibility of the Forest Service to determine the limits of these parks and forests, but it is an interesting development in the forest policy of Guatemala and an excellent way of giving "Tree Week" a special importance.
Another decree establishes reserved forest areas on public and private land, and sets out the restrictions imposed on these lands for a period of 15 years. A fourth degree gives honorary recognition to people or societies whose service to forest conservation has been outstanding.
India e The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, under its schemes for the training of artisans in modern wood-working machinery has decided to establish four model carpentry wood workshops as well as mobile carpentry shops in the country, attached to the Small Scale Industries Institutes in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
The scheme for the development of small-scale wood-working industries is meant for only small towns and larger villages where electricity is available, and where:
(a) facilities exist for continuous supplies of timber to feed a unit fully;(b) there should be quick and complete off-take of the finished articles such as furniture, doors and windows, etc. from the factory;
(c) the setting up of the model shop does not lead to unemployment of carpenters already operating in that area;
(d) a maximum number of village carpenters can take advantage of the training-cum-production center.
· The Indian Council of Ecological Research at the Forest Research Institute, Debra Dun, is attempting to build an ecological library and an appeal is made to all ecologists and ecological societies of the world for help. The Council trains teachers and post-graduate students from Indian universities in ecological research and offers facilities to research workers for carrying on original work and for consulting ecological works. Publishers of ecological books, ecological societies and ecologists are requested to help generously by sending as many of their publications as they can spare. Contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by the Secretary of the Council Forest Research Institute, Debra Dun (India).
Indonesia
· The Society of Foresters of Indonesia has produced an attractively illustrated booklet on The Forests in Indonesia, which gives information on the resource, planning, research, logging, silviculture, protection, wildlife management, education and engineering.
Balai Penjelidikan Kehutanan (the Forest Research Institute) has its office and laboratories at Bogor, a town about 40 miles south of Djakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on the lower slopes of the mountains Salak and Gedeh, at an altitude of approximately 250 meters (820 feet) above sea level. Bogor has an annual average temperature of 25°C, a rainfall of 4,278 millimeters (168 inches) and a relative humidity of 81 percent.
The Institute has four departments: botany, silviculture, technology and hydrology.
Each department consists of a number of sections, of which 20 are in operation.
The study of dendrology, especially the tree flora, one of the first and most important subjects, is the task of the botany department. The number of tree species in Indonesia reaches about 3,700. For identification of several tree species an extensive herbarium has been established, consisting of about 00,000 specimens. At present, the Institute is able to determine practically all trees to the species.
The study of resins, tannins, bamboo, rattan, etc. also belongs to the task of this department. Research on plant-sociology has also started.
Systematic research concerning the treatment of seeds, the method of cultivation, tending, the trend of growth and the producing ability of the important tree species has been carried out by the silviculture, department. In addition, the study of diseases and pests, selection, tapping experiments and all necessary operations are being done.
In aid of this research a great number of cultivation experiments and sample-plots have been laid out.
Iran
· At the invitation of the United states Foreign Operations Administration, Washington (now I.C.A.) and the United States Operations Mission Iran, a staff member of FAO's Forestry Division assisted as an instructor in an International Training School on Range Management held in Iran from May to July this year.
The training course was originally planned at the vocational level but the instructors soon found that the plane of intelligence of the men participating was much higher than anticipated and that with one exception these men were all college graduates. There were 26 students- 20 from Iran and three each from Pakistan and Iraq. All of them are currently employed by their respective governments in some agricultural or veterinary capacity and without exception they were keen, alert, and highly interested in the subjects of range management. Some of the men, particularly those from Iran, were members of tribes who graze their livestock on the ranges and so are in a particularly good position to influence their people toward better management practices.
Mr. B. W. Allred, Chief of the Range Management Planning Section of the United States Soil Conservation Service, was leader of the training course and, in addition, there were 12 other specialists who served as instructors at various times. Classroom instruction was given in the form of lectures in English and these were translated into Persian by some of the Iranians. A paper was prepared covering each lecture; these are to be accumulated and bound into a range management handbook, which will be furnished to each student. The lectures were supplemented by field exercises and the students were particularly fortunate to have access to the Shah's game refuge which has been protected from livestock grazing for approximately 60 years. Two extensive field trips were taken by the students, one of ten days into the Caspian area and another lasting five days in the vicinity of Ramadan and Kormanagah.
Iraq
· The Iraqi delegation to the Conference of FAO reported that among the most important tasks achieved recently was the enactment of the Forest Law No. 75 of 1955. The forest policy of the Iraq Government is stated in the preamble of this law; instructions and regulations have been issued by the forestry department with the go-operation of the local administration concerning control of excessive cutting and transport of forest produce.
Demarcation and survey of four boundaries in the mountain and the riverside forests with the object of their protection and development are being continued. An aerial survey of the mountain forests was carried out recently. The interpretation of the photographs is being done at present by FAO experts working in the forestry department.
Plans and programs to introduce forestry to the public are being carried out. Pamphlets have been published and distributed. Articles of technical and popular nature have been written on forestry topics for radio broadcast and newspapers.
Furthermore, the following steps have been taken to give effect to a national forest policy:
1. The development of afforestation programs in most areas, previously of experimental nature, into large scale projects, especially in northern Iraq. New experimental fields have been established in middle and southern Iraq.2. A forestry research division is to be developed in the forestry department and is intended to be co-ordinated with agriculture research.
3. Several look-out stations and small buildings for forest guards have been built. Others are being planned as well as communication lines to connect these look-out stations.
4. Metereological stations are being set up in suitable areas in forest zones and plantation project sites.
5. A modest forestry budget was voted by parliament.
6. Handsome funds have been earmarked in the Development Board budget for the development of forestry.
Ireland
· An official report to FAO states that planting policy envisages a planned level of planting at a rate not loss than 12,500 acres (5,000 ha.) per annum and its increase as soon as possible to a primary target of 15,000 (6,000 ha.) per annum. The actual rate of planting which was 12,500 acres (5,000 ha.) in each of the years 1952/53 and 1953/54 was increased last year, 1954/55, to a figure of 13,900 acres (5,625 ha.) and will be further increased in the current season, 1955/56, to the immediate target of 15,000 acres (6,000 ha.). This increase is made possible by the improvement in the reserve of plantable land and by the overtaking in recent years of arrears of general management operations.
Norway
· Proposals have been made by the Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy for building an atomic reactor with a capacity of between 10,000 and 20,000 kW, near the pulp and paper mills of the large Saugbrugsforeningen Company, which could be used to produce some of the steam needed by the company for its production processes. Saugbrugsforeningen is the second biggest user of steam in Norway, its requirements being about 100 tons an hour. The atomic reactor could supply 10 to 20 tons.
The Institute for Atomic Energy already has a small reactor at Kjeller and visualizes the new plant mainly as an experiment to give practical experience in the construction and running of industrial reactors.
Paraguay
· A Technical Assistance officer, writing on the origin of the "petit grain" industry in Paraguay, says that the sour (bitter) orange is probably a native of Cochin China. Thence it spread to India and Persia and finally to the Mediterranean. The Jesuits introduced it into Paraguay from Spain, and planted the trees around their missions and settlements. They also introduced the sweet orange during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Both sweet and bitter orange escaped cultivation and, finding favorable soil and climatic conditions, spread wild and semi-wild over wide areas and into the forests. Hybrids were formed and there were possibly mutations. The wild trees, foliage and general characteristics of their fruit, together with the odor and bitter taste, have resemblance to the bitter orange, but the pulp is sweeter.
Three varieties of wild orange are locally distinguished: Apepú-jhai, the bitter orange, Apepú-jhee, the sweet orange, which gives a poor yield of oil, and the Apepú-i, the small orange which should not be used for distillation.
Petit grain (bigarade) oil was apparently first distilled in the south of France and the Mediterranean in general. The leaves, exclusively from the bitter orange - Citrus aurantiun - are still distilled to give a high quality of oil with an ester content of 60-68 percent. Haiti also produces about 10 tons annually of the oil; with a high ester content (60-80 percent), but the bulk of the world's production - two-thirds or more - now comes from Paraguay.
World production of citrus oils per year is roughly as follows:
|
Oil |
Tons | |
|
Lemon |
500 | |
|
Sweet orange |
600 | |
|
Petit grain |
| |
|
|
Bigarade |
10 |
|
|
Paraguay |
250 |
|
|
Bergamot |
100 |
|
Lime |
120 | |
|
Grapefruit |
20 | |
The petit grain oils are derived from the leaves only, the others by compression and extraction from the fruits.
Peru
· A thesis, prepared by a young Peruvian ingeniero agronomo and submitted to FAO, deals with the relative merits of creating plantations of Casuarina cunninghamii on dry coastal areas in Peru.
From an analysis of data, the author draws the following conclusions:
1. A comparison of the profit obtained from growing cotton on a sandy-stony soil with that obtained from growing Casuarina cunninghamii on the same type of soil shows that the annual average profit from a Casuarina plantation is the greater by $49.45 per hectare.2. Production costs are lower with trees than with agricultural crops, fewer laborers are required; the problems of soil cultivation are easily solved; and the quantity of water required is less.
3. The establishment of a tree plantation is not a seasonal operation and may be undertaken as soon as an adequate water supply is available.
4. The basic sale price of the products is not influenced HO much by fluctuations in supply and demand as in the case of other commercial crops.
5. In Peru, at the present time, there are no plant pests affecting either the growth of the trees or wood production whereas in dealing with other agricultural crops stringent pest control is required in order to avoid crop failure.
6. No specialized mechanical equipment is needed for the cultivation of Casuarina, which can be carried out with extremely simple equipment.
7. Labor shortage at the time set for felling does not decrease the ultimate revenue, whereas for agricultural cash-crops, a failure of the labor supply has an extremely adverse affect both on the quality and quantity of the yield.
Singapore
· The following Table, taken from an official report, well illustrates the wide area of trade enjoyed by this port. Principal receiving ports are strewn in brackets.
Sweden
· The Forest Research Institute of Sweden has gradually expanded in scope and organization from a modest beginning in 1902. The years 1912 and 1944 were particularly important in this development. In 1912, the Institute, which till then had been under the supervision of the Board of Crown Lands and Forests, became an independent body. At the same time, funds were allotted for the erection of a special building at Experimentalfältet, which was brought into use in 1915. In 1944, a reorganization was made resulting in an important expansion and a wider range of activities, and a new Institute building, as well as an extension and rebuilding of the old one. The new building was completed in 1945 and the old one was ready by the spring of 1947. The organization was further expanded between 194652. A new building for the study of genetics will be completed in 1956.
The Forest Research Institute is the national center for forest research. It has two main responsibilities. One, the scientific investigation of ways and means of tending the forests under different conditions: the other, the continuous record of the forest resources of the country together with estimates of the actual out. Furthermore, it has the duty of assisting in the training given at the Royal School of Forestry.
These general prescriptions include numerous problems. To deal with these problems, the Institute is divided into six departments which are in chronological order:
1. Forestry. In 1954 divided into two:Yield studies, under Prof. Charles Carbonnier
Forest regeneration, under Prof. Lars Tirén;2. Botany and soils, under Prof. Carl Malmström;
3. Zoology, under Prof. Viktor Butovitsch;
4. Forest survey, under Prof. Erik Hagberg;
5. Genetics, under Prof. Ake Gustafsson;
6. Work study, under Prof. Ulf Sundberg.
Besides these six departments there is, for the Institute as a whole, a statistical office and a central office and also a laboratory for routine soil analyses.
The Director of the Institute is Professor Manfred Näslund.
TABLE 1. - OVERSEAS EXPORTS OF TIMBER SAWN IN SINGAPORE, 1954
|
Exported
|
Graded |
Ungraded. |
TOTAL |
|
in tons of 50 cu. ft. |
|||
|
Aden |
372 |
8 434 |
8 836 |
|
Arabia (Jeddah and Kuwait) |
- |
2 594 |
2 594 |
|
Australia (Sydney, Adelaide) |
7 373 |
790 |
8 133 |
|
Bahrein |
10 |
2 415 |
2 425 |
|
Brunei |
- |
174 |
174 |
|
Cyprus (Famagusta) |
164 |
- |
164 |
|
Denmark (Copenhagen) |
10 |
- |
10 |
|
Eire (Dublin) |
2 |
- |
2 |
|
Egypt (Port Said, Alexandria) |
63 |
16 |
79 |
|
French Somaliland (Jibuti) |
- |
10 |
10 |
|
Hong Kong |
- |
500 |
500 |
|
India (Bombay) |
- |
20 |
20 |
|
Indonesia (various) |
- |
3 618 |
3 618 |
|
Iraq (Basrah) |
2 244 |
3 886 |
6 130 |
|
Mauritius (Port Louis) |
10 758 |
10 758 |
|
|
Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam) |
129 |
- |
129 |
|
New Guinea (Hollandia) |
219 |
132 |
351 |
|
New Zealand (Wellington, Dunedin) |
2 451 |
- |
2 451 |
|
Norway (OSLO) |
57 |
- |
57 |
|
Pakistan (Karachi) |
- |
12 |
12 |
|
Portuguese East Africa (via Beria) |
10 |
- |
10 |
|
Reunion |
- |
275 |
275 |
|
Rhodesia (via Beria, Lourenco Marques) |
171 |
- |
171 |
|
Sarawak (Kuching) |
- |
12 |
12 |
|
South Africa (Durban, Cape Town) |
1 564 |
- |
1 564 |
|
South Korea |
1 144 |
306 |
1 449 |
|
Sudan (Port Sudan) |
4 |
- |
4 |
|
Syria |
- |
80 |
80 |
|
United Kingdom (London, Liverpool, Avonmouth, Glasgow) |
12 126 |
- |
12 126 |
|
United States of' America (Houston) |
17 |
- |
17 |
|
TOTAL |
28 130 |
34 051 |
62 191 |
· The forest villages of the Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags Aktiebolag in the Dalecarlia district of central Sweden were visited by the members attending the 1955 meeting of the Norrlands Skogsvårdsförbunds (Society of Northern Foresters) in August. The villages have been founded in the deepest parts of the forests to the north of Falun as a means of over coming the difficulties of attracting forest workers in areas remote from the centers of population. The Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags Aktiebolag owns nearly 390,000 hectares of forest, of which 295,000 hectares are productive. To house temporary workers, mostly recruited from farming families during the slack season for agriculture, the company has built very small hutments deep in the forest for single workers, and camps large enough to house 30 to 40 in very comfortable conditions for those who prefer a less lonely life. In these camps the workers are lodged free, two or four to a room. They pay about 20 percent of their average daily wage towards food and other expenses.
The housing of the permanent workers, however, is a more difficult problem. The company has tried to solve this by the creation of forest villages sometimes rebuilding old villages which were abandoned in the nineteenth century and sometimes creating new settlements. One such village, almost entirely reconstructed, was visited. It consists of separate houses containing two bedrooms, a living room, an electrically-equipped kitchen with refrigerator, toilet, garage, central heating and in some oases two more bedrooms under the roof. particularly noteworthy are the prefabricated houses, which can be assembled in a few weeks and cost between 35,000 and 45,000 Sw. he. They are let to the workers by the Company at the rate of 700-800 he. a year, equivalent to between two and three days' work a month. Workers are encouraged to build their own houses by low interest loans from the Company.
Several problems arise from the remoteness of these villages. There tends to be a shortage of young women who could found new homes and families. The education of children is another difficulty, singe the education authorities prefer to have a central school rather than scattered small ones. The transport of workers from large central settlements to their place of work would be so expensive, however, that the conflict of interests here is hard to reconcile.
A visit was also paid to the Siljanfors Försökspark, the experimental forest of the Swedish Forest Research Institute, where a special study is being carried out on methods of natural regeneration of forests for pure pine or mixed pine and spruce in central Sweden. Very interesting gleaning methods are being applied on young regenerated areas of pine, carried out when the trees are about 1 meter high. The method is cheap and does not require much labor, and leaves the plantation thinned to the right density, in the right conditions for the next fillings in 20 or 25 years time, which will yield saleable stems suitable for pulp.
Syria
· The Forest Department comes under the Ministry of Agriculture, and its budget for current expenses is an integral part of the general budget of the Ministry. A special budget is however reserved for long-term projects. Amongst these are boundary delimitation, reforestation and the creation of nurseries and forestry Research centers, and finally the constitution of a regional forestry school.
All the income from the exploitation and the protection of the forests is paid directly into the general treasury. This income may be irregular and small, and the Government applies its forest policy in the matter of protection, improvement and reforestation without trying to balance expenditure against receipts.
The expansion of the country's economy has enabled the State to develop its technical forest service so as to give greater care to the national forest resources.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· A Soviet paper industry journal reports on various types of reeds and rushes tested for pulp suitable for the production of paperboard. The most suitable are Phragmites communis, which occurs over an area of about five million hectares in the Soviet Union in the vicinity of lakes; Typha (bullrushes), of which the most frequent types are Typha latifolia and Typha angustifolia; Kamysh (Scirpus), a reed grass of which 200 varieties are found in the Soviet Union, the most suitable being Scirpus lacustris.
The pulp yield of these reeds varies from 30 to 40 percent. One mill in Taganrog has produced 1,100 tons of paperboard annually from bullrushes. Board produced from rushes is cheapen than that produced from straw. Less material is required for each ton of board produced and once the harvesting of the rushes has been mechanized, the cost differences will be appreciable. A floating combine harvester for rushes is now being constructed.
· For some years now, Soviet foresters have been trying to solve the problems of establishing plantations in the tundra.
The settlement of the regions near the Arctic Circle and above all the opening-up of communications demand the solution of a problem which until recently has seemed insoluble, where the soil is perpetually frozen. The upper soil only thaws in summer to a depth of 40 to 60 centimeters. During the warmest months the average temperature of the air is about 9 or 10 degrees. The average temperature throughout the year is -5 or-6 degrees, and during the course of the winter it descends to -55 and -60. The summers are very short; very violent winds reach 35 to 40 meters per second. The soil is very poor, practically without humus, often very acid and swampy and covered with a thick layer of moss. In the zones where these rigorous conditions obtain, there are only isolated trees or scrub of no value, such as the black birch and some willows along the rivers or in the depressions.
The study of the problem of afforestation in the tundra was originally undertaken as a means of protecting the Pietchorski railway against snow. drifts. Each winter the measures against the blocking of the track by snow cost 10 million roubles of which half is spent on the 130 kilometers which gross the bare tundra. Besides, there is the enormous expense each year of the snow barriers. One kilometer of fencing costs 130,000 roubles, but these barriers do not last long under these conditions and their efficiency is low, while the mere cost of maintaining them is expensive. Now the application of the methods of plantation perfected in the most northerly part of the railway permits the establishment of a forest barrier 80 meters wide at a cost of only 35,000 roubles a kilometer, including the upkeep of the plantations for the first five years after establishment.
The first obstacle was the thick covering of moss and black birch which not only prevents the germination of seeds, but above all limits the summer thawing of the soil to a very shallow depth. It had been observed that, where the soil had been cleared during work on the railway, natural regeneration of trees or bushes took place. Near one of the most northerly stations on the railway, there is a small island of trees, completely isolated in the tundra, with bush and tree species such as birch, willow, fir, hawthorn, juniper, honeysuckle and currant bushes. The rate of growth of the young trees is very satisfactory and their terminal buds do not appear to be in the least affected by the frost. One finds 250 year-old fir-tree stumps of 40 centimeters diameter which were out down in 1941 when the railway was constructed. The presence of this forested area is due to the quality of the soil in this place which is gravelly and consequently well drained and aired, unlike the rest of the tundra.
These discoveries lead to the conclusion-that it is essentially the soil and not the climate which stops the forest extending further north, and that in consequence, an appropriate working of the soil would permit afforestation, on condition that the right tree species were used and were raised in conditions which would enable them to adapt themselves to withstand the rigorous climatic conditions of this region.
In fact, all the difficulties which result from the soil can be overcome. The harmful effect of the covering of moss and black birch mastered by clearing by machinery and laying bare the earth. Excess humidity has been dealt with by planting on hillocks created by mechanical means. Acidity has been surmounted by chalk dressing: the poverty of the soil by dressings of mineral and organic substances. The effects of wind, on the other hand, are reduced by planting and seeding in furrows between the bands of land where the moss covering and the black birch are left intact, or in the shelter of barriers of birch or willow already established.
In order to obtain plants resistant to local conditions nurseries have been established since 1951, going gradually further north. The establishment of barriers for protection has followed the same progression. In the spring of 1954, the work had reached the point furthest north on the line near the station of Piesietz. An important barrier of 40 lines of trees has been established, admittedly on a relatively favorable clayey-siliceous soil which until work began on 16 June had only thawed to a depth of 30 centimeters. After tilling, the seeding and planting of fir, willow, larch, birch, hawthorn, and so on were carried out on 19 June and it was then discovered that, on 8 August, the thawing of the soil, which had scarcely increased on the land which had not been worked, had reached a depth of 2 meters on this land. In the autumn, it had reached 3 meters. The success of the young plants, with the exception of the larch, was 80 or 90 percent and germination took place in excellent condition in two weeks. In the autumn, the planting and seeding were followed by others of the same species as well as of pine, currant and other bushes, over an area of 12 hectares of plantation and 6 hectares of seeding. The barriers established vary in width from 56 to 110 meters.
United Kingdom
· The Jubilee of the Oxford University School of Forestry was celebrated on 1 October. The School was established in Oxford by Dr. William Schlich in 1905. Schlich was then still a member of the Indian Forest Service, but retired from this in 1911 and was appointed Reader in Forestry by the University, with the personal status of Professor. He launched a wide and successful appeal for the endowment of a Chair, and a Professorship of Forestry was established in 1920 and subsequently attached to St. John's College. A Pass Degree was established in 1918 replacing the original Diploma in Forestry.
Schlich retired at the end of 1919 and was succeeded by an old pupil, R. S. Troup. Professor Troup was largely responsible for the formation of the Imperial Forestry Institute and for its location in Oxford in 1924, and was for many years its Director as well as being the Professor at the
School of Forestry. Troup was also concerned to improve the scientific background of the training, and his efforts led to the substitution of Honour Moderations in place of the Preliminary Examination in Science, with a consequent lengthening of the course to four years. In 1944, Forestry was made an Honours School.
Troup was also very active in attempting to secure better accommodation for the school and the Institute. A considerable sum was collected in the form of contributions but it was not until after his death in 1939 and until the two institutions had been fused in a Department of Forestry that plans for a new building materialized under his successor, Professor Champion. The name of the Imperial Forestry Institute has been preserved as the name of the new building, which was opened by Princess Margaret in 1950, all parts of the Commonwealth having contributed timber for its equipment and embellishment.
· Forestry Commission Bulletin No. 25, Studies of North-West American Forests in Relation to Silviculture in Great Britain, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, (pp. 42, 6 shillings, 1955) results from a tour in British Columbian forests and those of neighboring areas in the United States, including Alaska and the State of Washington, to make comparative studies of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir and other species which have become important in British forestry. In this publication the author discusses the growth and environment of these species in relation to practices in the British Isles. On the basis of what he saw in North America, he suggests modifying, or confirms, current practices with regard to choice of site, mixtures, length of rotation, and silvicultural treatment of plantations of Sitka spruce, Tsuga heterophylla, Douglas fir, Thuja plicata, Pinus contorta, Abies grandis, Abies amabilis, Tsuga mertensiana, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, Alnus rubra, and Populus trichocarpa. His observations on provenance of seed of these species offer guidance to their future introduction in the British Isles.
United States of America
· An official report to FAO states that legislation enacted singe the last FAO Conference in 1953, of significance to the advance of forestry, included Public Law 566, which authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to go-operate with local organizations, including State governments, soil- conservation districts, conservancy districts, and flood-control districts, to prepare and carry out plans in small watersheds for works of improvement in the field of flood prevention and watershed protection. The emphasis is upon doing work in the upstream reaches of watersheds. One provision requires that, before any water retention structure can be built, the owners of at least 50 percent of the land in the watershed above the pro posed structure must agree to use the land in accordance with an approved soil conservation plan - this for the purpose of reducing the possible flow of sediment and assuring that land treatment measures are included in project plans. The new act is expected to accelerate the improvement of forest land management in small watersheds.
In 1953, the banking laws were amended to permit national banks for the first time to make timber loans. Forest tracts offered as security are required to be under good management and fire protection in order to qualify.
In 1954, Congress authorized a soil and water conservation loan program for farmland improvement, including sustained yield afforestation and reforestation. Authority is given for both direct Federal loans and for Federal guarantee of loans by commercial lenders. The authorized repayment period may be up to 20 years.
Further progress was made during the two years in insuring standing timber from loss by fire. Commercial underwriters are now offering such insurance in a number of southern states, in New England, and on the Pacific Coast. In some oases, insurance on unmerchantable timber and plantations is available in addition to that on merchantable timber. It is anticipated that development of timber insurance will facilitate the expansion of forest credits.
· The Supreme Court has ruled that state legislatures have power to enact laws dealing with the beauty and sightliness of a community, thus greatly strengthening the hands of organizations and individuals working for tree-planting and roadside protection measures. The judgement of the Court states:
"The concept of the public welfare is broad and inclusive. The values which it represents are spiritual as well as physical, aesthetic as well as monetary. It is within the power of the legislature to determine that the community should be beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well as glean, well-balanced as well as carefully patrolled."
· In 1953, the Forest Service refused to grant permission to stripmine for coal on National Forest lands in the State of Kentucky, and when the decision was appealed, a three-man committee, appointed to study and report to the Secretary of Agriculture, upheld the Forest Service's decision, thus establishing a sound safeguard in the use of such lands where the contemplated or desired use is contrary to the value for public forest purposes.
The hand of the Forest Service was further strengthened against misuse of the mining laws in July 1955, when the President approved a Congressional Bill which provides for multiple use of forest lands, thus preventing mining locators from obtaining claim to valuable timber, former home sites or grazing land and water, an essentially fraudulent purpose for which the mining laws had been misused for many years. Mining claims hereafter will have to be for mining purposes only.
· The Department of Agriculture and the Army Chemical Corps have announced a new, cheap wood fibreboard that filters poison gases, disease-laden particles and the radioactive fallout of atomic explosions from the atmosphere. The material has been galled "diffusion board" and was developed by the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, for the purpose of protecting troops and civilians from some of the most deadly' effects of modern weapons. The board looks much like ordinary building fibreboard, but secret chemicals screen out deadly gases and particles, although oxygen passes through it as can carbon dioxide gas given off in breathing. It can be manufactured with much the same equipment used in making ordinary building fibreboard and many species of wood can be pulped to make it. Although developed primarily for military use, the board can be used in homes and other civilian buildings.
· Reports on the nuclear explosion tests carried out at Las Vegas early in the year indicate that the hardwood plywood used in furniture and mobile homes proved its worth. Furnishings with hardwood plywood components were located in ten homes situated at different intervals from the center of the blast - the first two at 4,700 feet (1,430 m.) from ground zero. The blast had a potency equal to 35,000 tons of TNT. Even in the primary target area, where two homes were completely destroyed. most plywood eases were found intact with only surface marrings. Furniture with a hardwood plywood surface did not retain radio-activity and was found to be almost immediately reusable by wiping or washing off the surface.
The ability of plywood to withstand the pressure and shock waves of an atomic explosion is credited to its crossply lamination which, it is claimed, gives dimensional stability and greater strength, per unit of weight, than steel.
Uruguay
· From all parts of the world, letters reach FAO bearing tangible evidence in the form of postage stamps of an increasing awareness of the importance of trees to national welfare. Uruguay has recently issued a postage-stamp portraying the ombú (Phytolacca dioica) which is indigenous to Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. Although its timber is of no commercial value, it is a beautiful shade and ornamental tree, growing rapidly in regions where prolonged heat and drought conditions make it impossible for other trees to grow.
In parts of Latin America, the ombú is the subject of innumerable stories, legends and songs, and it has become the object of traditional respect among rural populations. It has been said that the criollo affection for it lies in the fact that it serves as a traveler's guide in many inhospitable regions. It is often known by that name and indicates the presence of some habitation where one is certain of receiving traditional unbounded hospitality.
Venezuela
· After the conclusion of the Fifth Session of the FAO Latin-American Forestry Commission at Caracas in October last, the participants were taken by plane to visit the agricultural colonies of Turen and El Guarico. The Turen colony, situated in the State of Portuguesa, 400 kilometers west of Caracas, was started by the Government in 1939 for the purpose of opening up and cultivating an area of over 20,000 hectares of fertile land. Through the Instituto Agrario Nacional, an immense task has been carried out of clearing the forest, building paved roads, fences, irrigation canals, houses, grain storage, administration buildings, community buildings, army barracks electric plants, hospital and airport. The area has been divided into lots of 25 to 40 hectares, and each lot is provided with a house and ancillary buildings. Over 500 families are already installed comprising Venezuelans and colonists of 15 different nationalities. They pay for the land and buildings over a 25-year period at 2 percent interest. Tractors and other farm implements are also purchased on credit and paid for in shorter terns. Production is directed towards four main crops: corn, black beans, sesame and rice. The planting of fruit trees is also encouraged and plants are provided from a central nursery. Forest trees have been planted along the roads, and windbreaks of natural forest have been left to protect the fields. A forest reserve of 30,000 hectares is being retained. The Turen project impresses a foreign visitor as an outstanding project of large-scale colonization combined with forestry.
The Guarico colony, situated 300 kilometers southwest of Caracas, will cover an area of 110,000 hectares when completed. Here the land will be sub-divided into lots not smaller than 220 hectares. Probably not less than 60 percent of each lot will be devoted to livestock and the rest to crops. An area of forest has been preserved for the protection of the irrigation dam watershed.
Afterwards members of the Commission spent two days at Merida where the new Latin-American Forest Research Institute and Training Center is to be located. They were welcomed by the Rector of the University of Los Andes, and the Dean and professors of the Forestry Faculty. The Faculty's buildings are quite modern and contain well-equipped laboratories, including timber testing machinery and a pilot dry kiln. A visit was made to the experimental forest in the Mucuy valley situated at an altitude of 200 to 300 meters, where the planting of different species to improve secondary forest growth, was demonstrated. In the nursery, an interesting experiment is being conducted on the adding of mycorrhiza to the nursery stock of Pinus radiata. There was quite a favorable difference in the growth when mycorrhiza were applied.
Participants were given the opportunity of seeing the "cloud forests" in La Carbonera which contain valuable Podocarpus species mixed with hardwoods, and the arid zones in Lagunillas where the Forestry Faculty intends to start test plantations with different species. The Escuela de Capacitacion Forestal (Forest Guards School) was also visited.
Yugoslavia
· Yugoslavia, like many other countries, endured a period of economic stress after the last world war. The forests were heavily drawn on for repairing damage to houses and communications and for exports of raw or processed wood to bring in badly needed foreign currency. Yugoslav authorities and foresters, well aware of the dangers of exhausting the forest resource, have singe been in constant search of ways and means of rehabilitating the forests and forest industries, towards which a number of FAO Technical Assistance officers have contributed.
An interesting development in the Technical Assistance Program was a meeting held in Dubrovnik last September. Organized, on the invitation of the Yugoslav Government, by the Forestry Division of FAO, the occasion enabled some 40 foresters and technicians from all the constituent republics to meet with the FAO Technical Assistance officers who had worked in the country, and to review the present situation of forestry and the woodworking industries in Yugoslavia. There were frank discussions on the progress made singe the visiting experts had completed their assignments, and on the usefulness of the advice and help that' had been furnished. The conclusions of the meeting were put in the form of recommendations to the Yugoslav Government as to the follow-up work that was considered desirable.
Also of note is the recent publication of a three-volume textbook on mechanical and chemical timber conversion by the Chief of the Wood Industry Division of the Forestry and Wood Industries Institute at Sarajevo. Written as a guide to forestry students, the textbook is likely to be also very useful to the wood-working industries themselves.
