The items 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.
Afghanistan
· An FAO officer visiting Kabul reports on the privately-owned plantations of black poplar which are plentiful around the capital alongside irrigation channels. They form a feature of all the valleys of the country. All the plantations show the same defects, which could no doubt be easily remedied: use of any kind of cuttings or slips for planting with the result that trees are often misshapen; insufficient spacing sometimes only 10-15 centimeters between the planted slips and no systematic thinning; complete ignorance of pruning techniques.
A timber depot situated just outside Kabul has a turn-over of 4050,000 poplar logs a year. As there are five of such depots in all, and others not quite so large, and as some supplies are obtained by owners directly from their country estates, local consumption can be estimated very roughly at 25,000 cubic meters of roundwood. Prices range from 100 afghanis (official rate of exchange US $1 = 21 afghanis: market rate, 40 to 43 afghanis) for a barked log 10 meters long and 25 centimeters in diameter at the thick end, to 5 afghanis for a pole 3 meters long and 8 centimeters in diameter.
Local furniture makers are equipped in a fairly modern way, though production is not greatly rationalized. The wood used is mainly cedar from Nouristan, delivered by floating, or hauled by pack-horse from Janubi: walnut is also used. The cedar squares are priced at 120 afghanis delivered. Entirely squared by axe in the forest, this method of exploitation represents a considerable wastage of wood.
Australia
· The results of research in reproducing vegetatively Radiata pine, which began in Australia in 1937, may be summarized as follows.
The more important factors influencing successful rooting of cuttings are: age of the tree from which cuttings are taken, the inherent nature of the individual tree for reasons not evident, and the season of collection of cuttings. In addition, the type of branchlet employed, nature of the rooting medium, length of the cutting, depth to which set, water supply, and the aeration of the base of the cutting may be important. Cuttings from young trees are generally superior to those from old trees; cuttings are best collected when terminal buds are resting after the heat of summer; first order branchlets are preferred; cuttings may be pulled from the tree and cut to length with a sharp axe; needles are not stripped from the base of the cutting.
Cuttings raised in nursery beds are poorly rooted and suffer severe loss in plantations. A method using galvanized iron tubes 6 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter has been developed to give far superior plants and survival. Cuttings 6 inches long are used and set at a depth of 3 inches in the soil tubes which are then placed in the open nursery in rows, the base of the tube being set no deeper than is necessary to keep the tube upright. While this method is more expensive than others, it gives a higher percentage of success and better quality plants.
Bulgaria
· Ownership of the forests was formerly spread as follows: communal, monastic and school made up 57 percent; State, 26 percent; and private, 17 percent. In 1944, all forests were declared State property.
According to the latest statistics furnished to FAO's European Forestry Commission, forest land represents 33 percent of all the territory of the country - about 28 percent being tree-covered. This shows that the wood production potential of the country is considerable, being 5 percent higher than the average for Europe.
High forest forms 80 percent of all wooded forest-land, about 14 percent coniferous and 46 percent deciduous. In the latter, beech is the most important species and is one of the main sources for supplying the demands for construction timber. Oak forms just over 3 percent of the area of high-forest.
Coniferous forests comprise mainly common pine and black pine, which occupy 69 percent; spruce, 23 per cent; black fir, 0.5 percent; and the rest of the area is taken up by common fir and larch.
For management purposes the forests are divided into seven categories: the protective, water-regulating forests occupying 50.7 percent; the State forest-belts, 0.4 percent; health-resort forests, 1.8 percent; preserved forest, 0.2 percent; forests of the green-belt, 1.8 percent; eroded forest-lands, 6.8 percent; and protective-industrial forests, 38.3 percent. This differentiation of the forests according to their significance for the national economy enables the forestry administration to organize and manage them on a sound basis.
Measures are planned to convert much of the coppice and low-growth forest to high forest. These types occur largely on the plains and in the foothills where they fulfill a definite need in the rural economy for fuel, small building material, and fodder.
A radical reform in the organization of the rural economy has taken place, and a wide network of workers' co-operative and State farms has been set up. These must manage and can use the timber of the woodlands occurring on them, which gives the agricultural farms a material interest in planting up those lands that are unsuited to farming use.
In view of the great demand for wood for building, for some years it became imperative to allow an increase in the rate of cutting of coniferous forests. Subsequently, the Government took measures to bring about the substitution of wood by other building materials, and then reduced the rate of utilization of the forests to normal. At the present time, the basic problem in forest management in the high mountain regions is to combine the maximum timber-exploitation with the retention of the protective functions of the forests to the maximum extent. This is achieved by introducing the most suitable systems of felling. In high forest, both coniferous and deciduous, the trend is towards progressive and group-selection fellings, whereby a gradual renewal of the mature crop is secured and favorable conditions created for the development of young growth. In the upper reaches of the forests, on steep slopes and in the region of reservoirs, only selection felling is practiced. Clear-felling in high forest is forbidden and is only allowed in forests of low-growth where the felling cycle is 20 to 30 years.
Canada
· The Junior Forest Wardens movement, under the sponsorship of the Canadian Forestry Association, was started 25 years ago as the Junior Fire Wardens. The movement is dedicated to the study of forestry, woodlore, fire prevention, fire fighting, conservation of forests, signaling, first aid and many other activities that parallel professional work in the forest. Projects include the growing and planting of trees, acquiring proficiency in woods-travel, camping trips, tree and plant identification, making woodland inventories, in general assisting forestry and game departments.
Beginning in British Columbia where the active membership has grown to 6,500 and more than 32,000 of the familiar red-shined wardens, with proficiency badges on their arms, have graduated, the movement has spread to Ontario, the Maritime provinces, Newfoundland, and the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and is still growing. Membership is open to all boys attending school between the ages of 10 to 16 and their enrollment card is signed by a Forest Ranger, principal of the school or a group leader.
· A light meter that will aid biologists to measure the amount of light received by trees and plants has been developed by the National Research Council and the Forestry Branch, Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. Measurement of light is important to those scientists who study the effect of environment on plant growth but previous light recording instruments were unsuitable. The pyrheliometer used by meteorologists and the exposure meter of photographers records the amount of light received by flat surfaces only, while plants are affected by light from all directions.
To record the light coming from all directions, a glass sphere 4 inches in diameter is used in the new instrument. Light striking the globe passes to a photoelectric cell causing an electric current to operate a counter. Readings of the counter are taken at the start and end of the observation period. Because plants respond mainly to the light wave lengths lying in the visible part of the spectrum, the integrating light meter is sensitive to those wave lengths only. Tests at the Petawawa Forest Experiment Station have been satisfactory and forest biologists describe the meter as a "useful and flexible instrument" for a wide range of experiments on the effect of light on tree growth.
Ceylon
· A correspondent points out that the photograph appearing on page 135 of Unasylva Vol. 9, No. 3 is a picture taken in the "wet patanas" of Ceylon. These are high elevation montane grasslands, above 5,000 feet altitude, of a sodden and peaty type as may be observed in the photograph. The nursery in the course of preparation was for raising plants of Pinus caribaea for the "wet patana" scheme which consists of afforestation in solid blocks mainly with Acacia mollissima, not a windbreak cum pasture scheme. This nursery site was subsequently abandoned as it was too windswept for the purpose of raising plants.
The forest in the background is typical of the stunted variety of wet evergreen forest found in this region.
Costa Rica
· A Fifth International Tropical Training Course was held from 5 to 30 September in Turrialba with 26 students from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The staff consisted of two professors from Mexico, Dr. Enrique Beltràn and Ingeniero Villaseñor, Dr. L.R. Holdridge from the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IIAS), Mr. H.C. Haines from the International Co-operation Administration of U.S.A. (ICA) in Costa Rica, Mr. P. Poyry and Mr. Schreuder from FAO and various other technicians in different fields, from Costa Rica and the IIAS in Turrialba. About 10 days of the course were dedicated to lectures, the rest of the time to field work and visiting industries, experiment stations and various forest types in the country. Almost all of the participants of this course are working in the various Forest Services of their respective countries; some of them in agricultural extension. Their average educational background was very satisfactory, and all of them took part in the course with appreciable interest, in the theoretical part as well as in the practical field work.
Ecuador
· In Ecuador, there are approximately 2 million hectares of páramos, grassy regions above the natural timberline. Their lower altitudinal limit is usually at about 3,500 meters, and the upper limit permanent snow-line at some 4,500 meters. The greater part of these páramos is not being used.
Some 27 years ago, on the páramo on the slopes of the volcano Cotopaxi, at 3,600-3,800 meters above sea level, small plantations of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) were established and have proved moderately successful, in spite of the fact that neither of the species used grows naturally at such high elevations.
The entire inter-Andine sierra region of Ecuador depends almost entirely on plantations of Eucalyptus globules for fuel, charcoal, construction timber, railway crossties, and even flooring and cheap furniture. Most of these Eucalyptus plantations are on land potentially agricultural in nature. It therefore seemed important to initiate experiments to determine what other timber species could be grown to best advantage in the páramos. William R. Barbour, an FAO Technical Assistance officer, has been assembling seed for the purpose of establishing small trial plantations on the Cotopaxi páramo. Already received and planted in seedbeds are coniferous species from Italy and Morocco and 12 kinds of Eucalyptus from Peru. En route from Australia are seeds of 18 species of Eucalyptus. Orders for seed have been sent to Kenya and Taiwan. Seeds of Himalayan species will be obtained from Dehra Dun, India, and it may be possible to obtain seeds of trees from the high mountains of Mexico and Central America. It is hoped to establish trial plantations of some 60 species, of which a few may prove suitable for extensive introduction.
Finland
· As from 1929, the State has granted forest owners subsidies and loans for basic improvement in their forests. Stipulations governing the funds allocated for this purpose are included in the Forest Improvement Act which is passed for five-year periods. Under the 1953 Forest Improvement Act now in force, at least 600 million marks are granted every year for afforestation of treeless land; reforestation of under-productive forests; forest drainage; construction of forest roads; and a certain amount of research in the above-mentioned fields.
The funds are granted either as loans or as subsidies. As a rule, loans are repaid at an annual rate of 6 percent, but for loans for road construction the rate is 10 percent, 3 percent being interest and the remainder amortization. Subsidies can be granted up to 6 percent, in exceptional cases up to 8 percent. In granting subsidies and loans, the total size of the holdings and in general the economic resources of the persons qualifying for them are taken into consideration, and generally the owners of small woodlands are the most favored.
France
· With its twelfth issue for 1955, the Revue du Bois et de ses Applications completed the tenth year of its appearance. The quality of its articles, the high standard of presentation and the wide interest of the features which it includes have established for this review a distinguished place not only in France but also among all periodicals dealing with forestry and forest products.
One of the characteristics of the Revue is that it sets out to strike a balance between forestry, wood utilization, and trade and industry, and always considers the timber situation against the background of the general French economy, and then against the world economic picture.
Among those who produce the Revue or contribute to it articles of enduring interest, are many particular friends and helpers of FAO. The Forestry Division of FAO is therefore happy to take this opportunity of congratulating them on their work and to wish them continued success with the Revue du Bois.
· The forests of France are highly diverse in composition and quality, resulting from the varied combination of climate, topography, geology and soils and from the complex history of two millenia with its use and abuse, attention and inattention, advance and retreat. Since the Roman occupation the forests have felt the impact of clearing for agriculture, the taking of wood for fuel and later for industry, the establishment of destructive usage rights, the reservation for hunting, of fire and erosion. Concern over the forests appeared in 1280 as a forest code for the Royal forests, which set up an organized forestry service, followed by others and at length by Colbert's famous ordinance in 1669, which survived the Revolution and inspired much of the code of 1827. The foundation of the National Forestry School at Nancy in 1824 under the great Bernard Lorentz, an Alsatian, led to the production of fully equipped cadres to administer the State forests and, even more importantly, to the introduction of the theory and practice of natural regeneration, largely responsible for the renascence of French forestry during the past century.
The great forest destruction of the first world war and the lesser evils of the second world war have finally led to the recent formulation of a vast forestry program, dealing with both State and private forests, and to its implementation by a National Forestry Fund.
All this is described in Forests of France, written by J. L. Reed in English. This is an interesting and well-written book, necessarily sketching rather than dealing in great detail, but containing a surprising lot of information, sufficient for its purpose. It is a very real achievement for a foreigner to have understood and reported the story so well.
· The Law of 30 September 1946, which established a National Forestry Fund, has made it possible to achieve great progress in afforestation in France. In the first eight years around 500,000 hectares of new plantations, mostly conifers, have been created.
This expansion of artificial stands for an essentially economic purpose has led the French forestry administration to try to improve on traditional planting methods which are sometimes ill-suited to modern conditions and the objectives of the whole planting scheme.
For this purpose, early in 1951, the Ministry of Agriculture set up an advisory committee on forest planting to advise and make recommendations on:
1. technical problems of afforestation projects;
2. species and methods to be used in each major natural region, depending on the environmental conditions;
3. principles that should govern priorities accorded Jo particular afforestation projects in annual planting programs;
4. demonstration and pilot projects
The committee brings to bear on the problems presented to it, the combined knowledge of the three component parts of the Waters and Forests Department, responsible for implementing the afforestation policy, namely, the Central Administration, the Research Service and Field Service. Each is represented by several Conservators and Officers of the Waters and Forests Department, thus making for close and effective co-operation. The members from the Field Service are periodically changed so that the Committee becomes acquainted with the particular problems of the various regions of France. The Committee meets in Paris three or four times a year and makes field trips. It may invite prominent personages to participate in its meetings, particularly private owners and representatives of forestry and timber firms.
During its first year of functioning, the Advisory Committee made a broad survey of the planting problems in the various regions of France, so as to select those specific problems that merited thorough expert study. The results of such studies, and the Committee's agreed solutions, have been written up in the form of reports and published in a collection entitled Comment reboiser (How TO PLANT). Nine reports have already been issued, in editions of 8,000 copies each. They cover the following subjects:
(a)
choice of species;
(b) conditions and methods peculiar to the heavy soils of the west;
(c) methods of soil preparation;
(d) soil improvement methods;
(e) protection against pests and diseases;
(f) planting maritime pine on the 'Lances' of Gascony;
(g) use of Douglas fir in afforestation;
(h) afforestation by direct seeding.
The use of machines in planting work and the types that can be used are explained in Pamphlet No. 8: Mechanical Equipment and Afforestation, the main features of which appear in the Equipment Section of this issue of Unasylva.
These titles indicate the main preoccupations of the Committee which has laid particular stress on correct soil preparation.
Their publication represents one side of practical achievements of the Advisory Committee during the first five years of its existence, but its activities have grown much wider, and, for instance, its opinion was sought on the 1952-57 Planting Program, and it has drawn up or suitably modified the precise regulations for contracting agencies carrying out planting operations.
French Guiana
· The forests of the Department of Guiana cover a large part of the country and amount to about 7 million hectares, of which 1.5 million hectares can be exploited fairly easily. Surveys carried out so far seem to indicate enough valuable timber to the hectare to make large-scale extraction an economic proposition. The topography of the country, intersected rivers, makes the transport of logs easy during most of the year.
Local consumption requirements absorb most of the timber logged now but exports might find markets in the French Antilles, the West Indies, America and even Europe.
The Guiana forests contain many species of varying properties. Among the best known species which occur in some quantity are Angelique (Dicoryria paraensis), Wapa (Eperua falcata), Parcouri (Ocotea rubra), Manil (Symphonia globulifera), and Yayamadou (Virola surinamensis).
The present sawnwood production of Guiana is low because the sawmills are poorly equipped. Even so their capacity is much greater than the logging concerns can supply. These do not have the resources to buy modern logging equipment. The sawmills are equipped with circular saws, Canadian type, requiring considerable driving power and producing only poor-grade lumber.
To improve agriculture and more especially forest exploitation in Guiana, the Government set up a State Company, Le Bureau agricole et forestier guyanais, in 1946. A forest inventory was started. It is still in progress, but appears to reveal that the forest could besides sawlogs yield veneer logs and pulpwood. An experimental sawmill is now operating in the Saint-Laurent du Maroni area, with various types of saws, adapted for sawing the different species of the Guiana forests. The results obtained are publicized as widely as possible for the benefit of the existing sawmills and to encourage the establishment of new mills. Experimental plots have been established for studying the regeneration methods best adapted to the Guiana forests.
Germany
· Aus der Hohen Schule des Weisstannenwaldes by K. Dannecker, although written primarily for the Central European forester, deserves attention on a much wider geographic range. It deals with the problems associated with large-scale plantations of uniform stands particularly of spruce, established during the past century in many parts of Central Europe and particularly in Germany. This practice, chiefly in connection with the wide adoption of the management system customary for monocultures, namely clear cutting, has resulted in a rapid diminution of valuable species native to these regions. In particular silver fir (Abies alba) has receded to an alarming degree in many hilly parts of Germany, thus creating the catchword of "fir dieback" or of "the lost species." This situation would probably not have given much reason for concern if the uniform spruce or pine forests established in place of the original mixed fir/hardwood forests, had not frequently resulted in dangerous soil degradation, increased susceptibility to biotic pests, and severe snow and wind damages, as well as progressive decrease of site productivity.
The author's conclusion is the same as that of another, J. Week, namely that the basis of forest management methods aiming at the highest possible sustained wood production on a given site must be a thorough investigation of the natural laws which govern the growth of individual trees and the production of entire stands. Substantial progress in this direction has been made in recent years in many countries, through more careful thinking, inclusion of the biological aspects of plant ecology and sociology, forest hygiene, and through new mathematical approaches.
Forstliche Zuwachs und Ertragskunde (FOREST INCREMENT AND YIELD) by J. Weck endeavors to bring together in very concise form currently available information on an international level, as to the various aspects and theories of increment and yield, for forests from the northern regions to the tropics. The author draws conclusions and gives attention also to the many problems that still remain to be solved, in face of the fact that each separate stand of trees is different in appearance, environment and requirements.
India
· N.,J. Masani, who lectures on engineering and surveying at the Indian Forest Colleges in Dehra Dun, has prepared Notes on Forest Engineering "with a view to assisting forest officers, with a limited technical knowledge and with little practical experience, to construct forest engineering structures which very often they are required to do, using minimum materials and thus conducing to economy of public money." The book, intended primarily to serve as a textbook for forestry students, contains chapters on building materials, masonry, erection, carpentry and joinery, timber mechanics, road-making, bridges, and water supply. A large amount of useful information acquired through practical experience is provided, and the book may therefore find a wider use than intended by the author, particularly as a guide to forest officers working in countries or conditions comparable to those in India.
Mexico
· Reporting to the Latin-American Forestry Commission, Mr. L. Huguet, an FAO Technical Assistance officer in Mexico, described the Mexican Forest Service as being as old as that of the United States, although it had not made the same extraordinary progress. In 1951, at the request of the Government, FAO sent a large forestry mission to help the authorities in technical and policy matters. This mission completed its work in 1953 and, to assist in implementing some of the mission's recommendations, FAO has since sent other experts to the country. One expert in pulp and paper research co-operated with the Mexican Institute for Technological Research of the Bank of Mexico (Istituto Mexicano de Investigaciones Technologicas del Banco de Mexico, S.A.) in assessing the various raw materials that can be used for the production of the types of paper that Mexico requires. Mexico is fortunate in having all the standard or unconventional raw materials needed for the production of pulp and paper. Another adviser on the marketing of forest products is studying both export problems and the development of local markets.
Two experts, one a forester and the other an industrial specialist, are advising on the setting-up of a chain of integrated forest industries in the State of Michoacán, the final goal of which is to produce 40,000 tons a year of newsprint, 30,000 tons of sulphate pulp and over 60,000 cubic meters of sawn timber. The last project has already been planned and an allocation of funds approved by the Mexican Government.
New Guinea
· In New Guinea, the bark of some mangrove species is used for the development of tanning extract, but no use is made of the timber. Pulping studies by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization on five species of a mangrove association, using the sulphate process supplemented by chemical and morphological examination, show that the chemical characteristics are similar to those of other hardwoods and that pulps of good strength properties are obtainable from three of the five species tested. These species are Camptostemon schultzii Sonneratia acida and Excoeacaria sp.: their pulps appear to be similar to, or even better than, corresponding pulp from Eucalyptus regnans.
New Zealand
· During the thirty-odd years since it was set up, the Forest Products Branch of the New Zealand Forest Research Institute has amassed a great deal of information on New Zealand and overseas timbers. Some has been published and more is being published but it is an inescapable fact that available data stimulates enquiries. Research tends to be interrupted by constant requests for information which are met, with varying degrees of success by letter, telephone, lectures and publications.
Some of the more important and time-consuming items are:
1. Grading of timbers including developmental, training (courses), committee and even checking work: in addition to exotic softwood grading, current interest relates to native softwood, for which the existing rules are no longer logical, and the beech timbers.2. Building timbers - a very live issue with the present changeover from familiar to unfamiliar timbers including some imported ones: building specifications and codes do not just spring into being - they evolve very slowly; at present a revised light timber code and one for structural design are taking shape.
3. Utilization of minor timbers.
4. Industrial uses: current studies include farmers' needs, peeled veneer match-boxes, flooring (including end-matched), bridges, railway needs, cross-arms, poles and a host of others.
· The New Zealand Forest Service is attempting to meet its increasing requirements of permanent skilled forest workers by recruiting and training young men as woodsmen. These will form a permanent and efficient labor force of craftsmen trained both in forest work and the associated trades.
The type of boy selected must be physically fit and attracted to healthy, interesting, outdoor occupation. He should be between 15 and 17 years of age and have had one or two years' secondary education.
The training given in two established schools extends over four years, and covers all the essential jobs connected with forestry. Teaching and supervision is carried out by carefully selected Forest Officers and technicians, and aims at turning these junior woodsmen into useful citizens, well adapted to fulfill the national forest development program which ranks in importance with other major industries in New Zealand. The syllabus includes the care and management of native and exotic forests; timber appraisal; nursery work; planting, pruning and thinning; logging and extraction; elementary surveying; wood-working; fencing; care and maintenance of mechanical equipment; first aid instruction; fire prevention and communications. The importance of the boys' physical and mental welfare during training, which occurs at a most critical period in their lives, is fully recognized and met.
Woodsmen who display aptitude for certain work are encouraged to specialize and salaries are then commensurate with the specialized skill attained. Those who fail to reach the required standard may, if they wish, become unskilled Forest Service workmen whose continued employment is guaranteed if conduct is satisfactory.
Another form of technical training is for boys who have their school certificates and are between the ages of 16 and 20. They spend the first year of their career on a forestry station, gaining experience in the manual skills of forestry. This helps them decide whether they want to make forestry their career, and gives the Forest Service an opportunity to learn about the individual trainee. Practical knowledge is necessary to the boy who, in a few years' time, will be in charge of men doing similar work.
Toward the end of the first year there is a division in the scheme of training. Successful candidates whose ability is academic and who have the university entrance or higher examination are offered university training in the technical aspects of forestry, and can become professional foresters. Those of a more practical bent can carry on field work for training as forest rangers.
The trainee selected for degree study is afforded opportunity for part-time attendance at a university, which means that he will take four years to graduate as B.Sc. after which he may even be sent to an overseas forestry school for postgraduate training.
Those who continue with field training only attend special "technical" courses, and gain experience in the control and handling of men. When they have reached a sufficient degree of proficiency, they are promoted to Forest Ranger.
Nigeria
· Until very recently, whenever the need arose to carry out any project of timber research, timber firms in West Africa had to turn to research institutes in Britain for assistance. Co-operation was invariably forthcoming but many difficulties were created by the 4,000-mile separation of the mills from the laboratories. The greatest drawback was the virtual impossibility of reproducing in the United Kingdom exact tropical conditions on more than a limited "hot-house" scale.
In order to facilitate the development of the timber industry in West Africa, a commercial firm decided to establish its own timber research unit at Sapele, and this unit is the only private timber research organization in the whole of British West Africa.
The construction of the unit started in 1954 and is now approaching completion. The initial capital outlay amounted to £30,000, and the annual operating costs are expected to be substantial. The unit comprises a completely equipped laboratory and many woodworking machines, together forming a plant which can perform on a small scale all the operations of the mass producing factory, thus enabling detailed pilot tests to be carried out.
Investigations will cover the treatment of logs from the moment the trees are felled. The improvement of timber processing, ways and means of improving the quality of the timber products, and achieving more efficient production, will all be subjects for research. In addition, the unit will undertake quality control, paying special attention to the problems of timber preservation, and conducting research both into wood-boring insects and into effects of fungus attacks. The results of research at Sapele will be coordinated through a laboratory in the United Kingdom with research performed elsewhere.
Norway
· Around the turn of the century, forest owners began to organize themselves in local societies. But these local organizations did not solve the forest owners' problems and, in 1913, a national association was formed. In 1929, this association was reorganized and district pools were formed for the purpose of selling the members' timber.
The Norwegian Forest Owners' Association is built up as follows:
1. Local societies. These are community organizations of which the forest owners are members (membership is not compulsory). The owners are the actual producers. Each one reports to his local society how much timber he has for sale.2. Sales or marketing pools. are district organizations and each generally includes the local societies in that district. The local societies report to their sales organization how much timber each has for sale, and the sales organization then finds a buyer among the pulp and paper mills or sawmills.
3. The central unit. The chief aim of this unit is to work for the economic and vocational interests of the forest owners, and to present the viewpoint of the forest owners to the authorities and the public.
At present the Association comprises 21 affiliated district pools or sales organizations. Each member pays a registration fee when he joins the organization and a commission to the district organization for the amount of timber sold on his behalf. This commission furnishes the necessary running expenses. The Association issues an information magazine, Skogeieren (THE FOREST OWNER) which forms a link between members and has about 40,000 readers.
The question of credit has been an important item on the program of the association. Formerly the forest owners had to depend on the timber buyers for the advance money they needed to finance their operations. Now the question of credit has been solved and the forest owners can borrow the advance money they need from a rural credit organization, the Farmers' Society for Short Term Credit.
Among the problems on which the Norwegian Forest Owners' Association is working today is that of strengthening the local societies of timber producers and increasing their membership. Furthermore, the Association is seeking to extend the activity of the district pools or sales organization so as to include not only the marketing of timber, in the form of logs, but also as lumber, barrel staves, fuelwood, etc. The final aim of the Association is to become financially interested in mills working on the processing of forest products in order to be able to exert a certain influence also in industry.
Pakistan
· A gazetted notice of the Pakistan Ministry of Agriculture dated 12 November 1965 sets out the forest policy principles which the Government pro poses to substitute for those laid down by the Government of former undivided India on 19 October 1894 for the management of State forests.
Since the State forests of Pakistan cover only 4 percent of the total area of the country, the new statement recognizes the need for a dynamic policy to extend the area under forest by a bold afforestation policy and to introduce scientific silvicultural methods in private forests. It recognizes the prominence that must be given to a solution of the problems of livestock grazing, in view of the importance of grazing in the rural economy. Finally, it stresses the role of the forest in a coordinated land use and soil conservation program.
The relatively small forested area of Pakistan requires that suitable management plans and protection and production methods be applied in all forests; legislation will, if necessary, be enacted to cover private forests and owners will receive from the State such material and technical aid as may be deemed necessary. However, commercial exploitation must be subordinated to safeguarding the indirect benefits which forests should afford to the country.
In West Pakistan, the whole area covered by forest proper cannot be expected to exceed 3 percent of the total area. Efforts must be concentrated on planting programs in conjunction with agriculture, in the form of irrigated plantations along canals, roads and railways, and the establishment of community forests on compact plots reserved for this purpose. It is recommended that at least 10 percent of the irrigated areas and 10 percent of the available irrigation water be reserved for such plantations.
In East Pakistan, on the other hand, efforts will be focussed on the expansion of the reserved forest area, the opening-up of inaccessible stands, and intensive utilization.
Implementation of policy must be entrusted to a highly qualified staff, and so will depend on a proper organization of research and training.
The preservation of wildlife will be regarded as one of the aims of forest policy.
Peru
· On an official visit, an FAO Regional Officer visited the biggest sawmill at Iquitos, belonging to a United States company. It started with American personnel but now only Peruvians are employed. Only mahogany and cedar are converted, using a band saw. With cedar it is possible to obtain 90 percent first grade lumber and 10 percent third grade; all the cedar goes to the Peruvian coast (Lima). In mahogany, there are 15 grades, the first 10 being exported to the U.S.A., the others being sold on local markets. About 80 percent of the mahogany lumber is exported annually by ship down the Amazon river and so to New York.
The forest area of the zone of Iquitos is at least 25 million hectares and the present average annual exploitation is around 41,000 cubic meters of timber, of which 35 percent is mahogany, 64 percent cedar, and 1 percent other timbers. A greater rate of export should be possible since ships up to 6,000 tons can reach to Iquitos. But the high export taxes (10 percent of the value of the lumber f.o.b. and a local export tax of 10 centavos per boardfoot) inhibit the export of any species but mahogany.
Philippines
· A joint mission of the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration and FAO recommends in its report that the production of wood for pulp and paper making should be an important part of the exploitation policy, but should not be the sole objective. Long-range policy should aim at the development of fully integrated wood-using industries in certain areas with the proviso that where the following courses are economic, or temporarily necessary, they should be given adequate consideration:
(a) Certain areas of the dipterocarp forest may be set aside for the exclusive production of pulpwood.(b) Reforestation to pine for the exclusive production of pulpwood may be considered, although production of a balanced wood supply is preferred.
In the light of present information yields of pine pulpwood at economic cost, in sufficient quantities to support an economic pulp mill, will not be available for 30 years and possibly more than 40 years even if a progressive policy is followed throughout this period.
The indications are that yields of wood per hectare from selected areas in the Bukidon Plateau of Mindanao will be high if reforestation to Benguet pine or other conifers is extended. The cost of reforestation will be reasonable in comparison with experience in temperate and subtropical countries. Because of the potential for development of hydro-power in or near this area, the report strongly recommends:
(a) the area be studied to determine whether or not large plots can be set aside for reforestation to conifers, using these either as a nurse crop or in pure stands frequently broken by suitable fire breaks which will also limit the spread of disease;(b) each of these plots be of sufficient size for economic logging;
(c) they be sufficiently separated to reduce the possibility that the growth on all plots could be blown down by a freak typhoon;
(d) the plots be so located as to make possible the economic concentration of pulpwood saw timber and the like at a suitable site;
(e) a rate of reforestation of 500 hectares per annum for a period of 20 years be given careful consideration, the basis of policy being that of the area planted each year, 200 hectares would in the first place be devoted to the production of pulpwood alone and 300 hectares to the long-term development of saw timber.
It is also recommended that experimental plantings of various species of trees (dipterocarp, legume, or conifer) be continued with the object that their growth rate and value at various ages for timber or pulpwood can be determined.
Poland
· The implementation of the forest policy of the Polish People's Republic is entrusted to the Ministry of Forests, which performs direct administrative functions in matters relating to State forests and regulatory functions with regard to private forests, the protection of natural resources and, in part, trade in forest products.
The Ministry has the following departments to carry out its functions: forest management; timber extraction; subsidiary products; timber marketing; and training. To assist the Ministry, there are two research institutes (the Forestry Research Institute and the Technological Research Institute), a scientific council for the protection of natural resources, a technical projects office, and an office for the forestry equipment industry.
The regulatory functions involve the technical supervision of private forests by the regional organizations of the National Forest Service; the protection of natural resources, carried out by the Natural Resources Protection Administration and the regional and department conservation offices; and the technical supervision of the proper consumer use of timber products, by a specialized agency with full powers of control.
There are 17 departmental administration centers, under which are the regional forest offices, each of which controls between six and eight forest districts. There are about 1,000 State forest districts, averaging approximately 6,000 hectares per unit.
Romania
· The new forest plantations are the result of intensive studies of site conditions and planting formulas to ensure that the right mixtures of species are used. Increasing attention is being given, both as regards silvicultural tending and volume production, to valuable exotic species, fast-growing species, and particularly to hybrid black poplars.
Special afforestation projects are linked with extensive programs in hydro-electric basins.
The sowing of spruce and fir by airplane has been tried, and the first results seem to be promising. About 3,000 kilometers of shelter belts have been planted to protect agricultural crops in the central steppe of Dobrudja, on a total area of about 80,000 hectares. After only four or five years, these plantations are already beginning to show a beneficial effect. About 40,000 hectares of plantations have been made on degraded land to restore it to production. The management of these stands has been intensified each year by silvicultural operations, thinnings, cleanings and selection cuttings, which bring large quantities of material into trade channels. Poor transport facilities in the mountain regions still, however, cause difficulties in this respect.
Trinidad
· In forest extraction operations, each tree is inspected and numbered before felling. It is marked with the buyers' initials and initials of the Forest Guard. After felling, logs are measured and royalties computed and paid before a removal permit is issued to the cutter. A crown hammer is used to mark stump, discarded top and logs. A broad arrow is used to mark seized timber concerned in a forest offence. All volumes of logs sold are recorded by species and compiled into an annual yield register.
All firewood is measured in cords before removal from the forest or conversion to charcoal.
Tunisia
· An official report on Tunisia, the newest member country of FAO, regards the conservation of the existing forests as being of prime importance because the population is growing at an extremely rapid rate. Moreover, the situation in regard to status of forest ownership is still far from clear. State ownership in regard to 30,000 hectares of forest had been declared by 1945, but ownership had not been proved over a million hectares. The rate of registrations of private titles has risen very considerably since 1949. Forest fires have resulted in 144,000 hectares of forest being destroyed in 40 years. Grazing under rights of usage still goes on without any effective control.
Management has been intensified since 1945 with the opening of access roads, location of forest department stations, installation of telephone equipment, and construction of firebreaks. This has provided employment for people living in the forest and served to reduce offences. The rehabilitation of degraded forest stands has been attempted by silvicultural treatment and by closure to grazing. Good progress has been made in planting up areas invaded by sand or badly eroded.
The only forest industries of note in Tunisia are the cork industry and the manufacture of unfinished briar bowls for pipes. There is a workshop at Tabarka producing hundreds of quintals of pipe bowls annually, and another center is being set up in the Ain-Drahan forest area, which will be of almost equal importance. Two cork factories process about half the crop of Tunisian cork. The high-grade cork is sent to France for processing and the rest exported elsewhere.
United Kingdom
· The British Standards Institution has issued Standards 881 and 589: 1955 Nomenclature of Commercial Timbers including sources of supply. The nomenclature includes all hardwoods and softwoods of economic importance in the United Kingdom. But only those timbers imported in quantity over a number of years have been accepted; some timbers imported on trial or for a short period have been deliberately excluded.
An innovation is the arrangement in alphabetical order of botanical names instead of trade names. This arrangement brings together closely allied timbers and indicates true relationships which may otherwise be obscured. Botanical names provide a standard nomenclature for international use.
In selecting standard names the following considerations have been kept in mind:
(a) Any name selected as standard must have a reasonable chance of being adopted in practice.(b) It is inexpedient to reject names firmly established by trade custom.
(c) Where it is necessary to choose between several well-established names, the most widely used name should be selected as the standard.
(d) Wherever possible, names standardized in the country of origin should be adopted as the standards.
· The United Kingdom Forestry commission's campaign against the gray squirrel as an enemy of Britain's new forests was intensified in March 1963, with the introduction of a "shilling-a-tail" scheme. This bonus scheme was responsible for an immediate 100 percent rise in the number of gray squirrels killed during the year ended March 1964, and for a further rise during the next twelve months.
In the six months April-September 1956 there was a sensational drop in the numbers killed, and as there is no reason to suppose there has been any easing up in the drive, the drop in kills is therefore thought to show that the campaign has now reached a critical stage.
The squirrel population having been reduced to this low level, the Forestry Commission is planning to launch an all-out drive in an effort to exterminate the pest. This is the more essential, as after the hot dry summer in 1956, a big seed year may be expected in the autumn of 1956, and with plentiful supplies of food the number of gray squirrels could swiftly build up again.
It has therefore been decided to double the bonus as from 1 January 1956, for a period of one year. Unfortunately, the decline in the gray squirrel population seems to have been accompanied by a marked increase in the numbers of wood pigeons at the expense of agricultural crops. Farmers claim that the squirrel helped to control the pigeon by devouring eggs and young.
· The type of forest owners' association favored in Great Britain is the co-operative society. No tax reliefs are available to these associations beyond those available to other trading organizations; they are assessed for income tax purposes in accordance with the Income Tax Acts. Assistance may, however, be made available by the Forestry Commission by way of grants or guarantees against loss during their initial period of development. Owners' associations are on a regional or local basis. Ten associations are known to be operating at present. The area they cover varies greatly; one society covers Scotland, while others cover groups of counties, single counties or districts.
The business of such societies is conducted by a management committee elected by the members, who normally hold shares in the society and pay an annual subscription; in addition, commission is charged on sales effected by the society and also on the cost of operations such as planting, thinning, felling, etc., carried out for members by the technical and professional staff of the society.
There is no obligation on owners to form or to become members of co-operative associations.
Fire protection of forests is the responsibility of the owner, but he may obtain advice and assistance both from the Forestry Commission and from local fire brigades. The assistance that owners may get from the fire brigade is made known in a leaflet "Fire! Protect your Plantations" issued by the Forestry Commission.
Advice on how best to protect plantations against diseases and pests is also available from the Forestry Commission.
The Forestry Commission may undertake the management or supervision of private woodlands on terms agreed with the owner. So far not a great deal of use has been made of this by owners. Terms for management have been agreed with corporations and private owners covering an area of 2,000 acres. A profit-sharing scheme between the Commission and a City corporation has been in operation for the past thirty years in respect of an area of woodland now amounting to over 5,000 acres on a water catchment area.
The Commission may take over the management of land which is subject to a dedication agreement should the owner fail to fulfill his obligations.
United States of America
· In October 1965, the Board of Directors of the Trust Company of Georgia appropriated $50,000 to be used during the next two or three years to promote forestry and the development of forest resources in the State of Georgia. Georgia's forests constitute one of the State's most extensive and valuable renewable natural resources and cover two-thirds of its land area. Over 90 percent of this forest land is privately owned, much of it by farmers; the average farm has 69 acres of woodland. The large number of small woodland owners is important in any program to develop the state's forest resources. On them are largely dependent the wood-using industries, which are expanding rapidly and calling for an ever increasing supply of raw material.
A large portion of the forest land is not being restocked with desirable trees, and one-third of the forest area of the state is occupied by unmerchantable timber. According to the Georgia Forestry Commission, saw timber volume in both pine and hardwood is declining and the total pine volume of merchantable trees, large and small, is not equal to the drain. It is estimated that, based on present research knowledge, improved practices could result in doubling the present annual wood growth obtained. Nine out of ten of the 160,000 small owners demonstrate by their forest practices that they do not manage their woodlands properly.
The problems involved in developing forest resources are numerous, but their solution must rest upon a sense of appreciation on the part of the public and the forest owner of the state's forest possibilities which can be achieved only through educational processes. Results of research can be disseminated to the public, the forest owner and the buyers and users of forest products only through educational programs. These are all the more urgent since farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure adequate credit to finance their yearly operations. Under such conditions, they will exploit their woodland resources ruthlessly in an effort to raise the necessary funds, and will put off any forestry work, even if calling for only a small cash outlay. This, in turn, will affect forest industries and, in the long run, the valuable indirect effects of forest cover on soil, water, health and climate.
There are 411 departments of vocational agriculture in high schools in the State of Georgia. There are 443 teachers to take care of 26,000 students taking vocational agriculture, and 63,000 adult farmers enrolled in special vocational agriculture courses. Many of the departments of vocational agriculture in the high schools offer courses in forestry. However, although the state and district supervisory staff includes various special is a number of fields of agricultural activity, there is no staff member who is a specialist in forestry. If forestry education is to keep pace with the other phases of agricultural education, it is important that this gap be filled. The Georgia Trust Company is, therefore, apportioning funds partly to the State Board for Vocational Education for the employment of a full-time forester to plan, direct and supervise forestry instruction; and partly to the organization of summer schools in forestry by the School of Forestry of the University of Georgia for vocational agricultural teachers in the state.
Furthermore, half the total appropriation is to go to the purchase of 100 tracts of forestry land of 10 to 15 acres each, conveniently located near 100 high schools with vocational agriculture departments. The contribution is conditioned on the remaining funds required to buy each tract being secured locally, since it is felt that local interest will thus be greater. The school forests are to be used by the vocational departments as demonstrations in forestry methods and practices and by other students, including 4 H clubs, Scout groups and others as school forestry, nature and conservation laboratories. These tracts will, of course, be owned by the schools to ensure continuity of care, pride of use, and maximum development of responsibility.
· A delayed news item reports that United States mail is now being shipped to Alaska in paper mailbags instead of canvas sacks. The paper sacks are non-returnable. It is said that the saving due to the substitution of paper for canvas will amount to $100,000 each year.
· A bulletin of the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science reports a technique, involving models of shelterbelts and surface barriers tested in a wind tunnel, to investigate barrier effects on wind velocities, evaporation, snowdrifting and house heating. Two types of shelterbelt models were used, both of 10 rows, with one leaved and the other without leaves. The advantage of the wind tunnel technique is that it obviates the necessity to wait for natural conditions in order to prosecute the investigation.
The leaved shelterbelt had an advantage of 6 to 6 times its height over the bare belt, as measured by ability to create 25 and 50 percent reductions in wind velocity. The leaved belt, however, caused a greater upward diversion of the flow lines above the barrier, resulting in increased eddy formation. Both shelterbelts were more effective in reducing velocity at ground level than a solid wall. In reducing evaporation, the leaved belt showed approximately 25 percent greater maximum reduction and 19 percent greater average reduction than the other models. The best shelterbelts for snow catch were of 2 or 5 rows and caught about 3 I/2 times as much snow as the best artificial snow fence.
· A correspondent draws attention to a paper in the May 1955 issue of the Journal of Forestry on the results of thinnings in a white pine plantation in North Carolina. Closely planted to white pine of uncertain seed source in 1899, part of the plantation had been thinned from below six times since 1916, each time to a basal area of about 100 square feet. Trees cut were usually those with crowns less than 35 percent of total height.
By 1953, there were 124 trees per acre (300 per ha.) big enough for saw logs in the thinned stand and 100 per acre (245 per ha.) in the unthinned portion. The trees averaged 4 inches (10.1 cm.) larger in diameter at breast height in the thinned stand, where spacing was 24 percent of height, compared with 20 percent of height on the unthinned plot. In 60 years, 22 percent of the yield was lost in mortality per acre on the unthinned area, while on the thinned area mortality was arrested by harvesting 31 cords (79 m') in 730 trees or 43 percent of the yield. Mean annual increment was 1.6 cords (4 m³) with thinning and 1.2 cords (3 m³) without. Production at 56 years in merchantable volume, including both pulp and saw logs, was 35 percent greater with thinning than without. Trees suitable for saw logs have a higher unit value but the full advantage from thinning is deferred until they have grown. Total production with thinning was 50 percent greater in board feet.
The average stumpage value of each surviving tree on the unthinned plot is now 80 cents; the average reserved tree on the thinned plot is worth $3.05. On a per-acre basis, the total stumpage value gained in 56 years by thinning is $198.40.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· A team of thirteen senior technical officers, sponsored by the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Irrigation and Power, Natural Resources and Scientific Research, Communications and Production was deputed by the Government of India, under the auspices of the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration and at the invitation of the Government of the U.S.S.R. to make a study-tour in that country in June-July 1955. The object of the tour was to study the progress made by the U.S.S.R. in the various fields in which the members of the team were interested. It was thought that the example of the U.S.S.R., which had progressed from an underdeveloped agricultural economy to a highly industrialized and balanced economy, might suggest useful lines and methods for India, which had embarked on a program of planned development of the resources of the country.
The forestry member of the group was C. R. Ranganathan, Inspector-General of Forests. In his report, which covers a wide field, he comments that shelterbelts and "field protection belts" are formed according to a planned pattern in order to provide protection against hot and cold winds and against erosion as well as to provide harborage for beneficial birds. Such protective belts are an invariable feature of Soviet farming. Owing to the larger size of the fields so protected, the usual objection to their formation, that they occupy land which would be more productive under field crops and that they depress crop yields in their immediate neighborhood through shade and root competition - which objection is valid in the case of small fields - loses all force. Crop yields are improved by field protection belts by about 15 percent in normal years and by a much higher percentage in unfavorable years.
Protective afforestation is employed on collective farms, not only in the form of shelterbelts but also to form tree plantations around ponds and water reservoirs, in ravines and gullies, and on sandy patches. Collective farms often have forest staff of their own, and, when necessary, enter into contracts with machine-tractor stations and neighboring forest farms (forest divisions) for assistance in mechanized planting. Protective forest plantations in collective farms occupy an area of 1,285 thousand hectares, distributed as follows:
|
|
1,000 ha. |
|
Field protection belts |
800 |
|
Plantations in ravines |
300 |
|
Plantations on sand |
185 |
A special feature of the Soviet system is that foresters and agronomists, as well as other professional and technical categories like engineers, doctors, veterinarians, etc., of the highest grade, are trained not in universities as in other countries, but in special institutes. The technical courses follow a standard pattern in that they are of five years' duration following on 10 years' schooling.
The main objective in the U.S.S.R. seems to be the mechanization of agriculture and forestry. Agricultural operations have been mechanized even in tea plantations on fairly steep slopes, a special light tricycle tractor being used. Desert afforestation has also been mechanizer Sowing is often done by aircraft flying low at treetop height in order to ensure seeds being dropped at the proper places. Biplanes are used with special arrangements for carrying a heavy load of seeds and discharging them at the correct rate. A machine for dewinging winged seeds has been developed. It was claimed that over 50 percent stocking of the areas sown was achieved on the average by means of air sowing.
Another method, which is of special significance to India, is the use of a jeep fitted with a seed bin and a blower. The seed bin has four hose pipes through which the blower blows the seeds. Two of these pipes are fitted immediately in front of the rear wheels of the jeep and the other two in front of the rear wheel of a trailer with a wider track than the jeep. The seeds thus fall in four rows and are pressed into position by the wheels running over them. Two men operating the jeep can thus sow up to 50 hectares of sandy desert in one day.
The mechanization of timber extraction is reacting on silvicultural methods. There seems a trend towards relying more on artificial regeneration and less on natural reproduction.
Yugoslavia
· An article by the Assistant Director of the Institut hydro-economique at Skoplje, entitled "The correlation between torrential rains and intensity of erosion," appears in Volume XIV of the Annales de l'Ecole nationale des eaux et forêts et de la Station de recherches et expériences, Nancy.
In a foreword, Professor P. Reneuve, of the Ecole rationale des eaux et forêts, points out that it is the fruit of exchanges of views on the international level and that it makes an interesting contribution to the studies of the Working Party on Torrent Control and Avalanches of the European Forestry Commission.
The article deals with the findings of the research recently made by the author in a small massif of about 100 square kilometers near Skoplje, the main purpose of which was to determine the effect of so-called 'torrential' rains on the erosion and transport of solid matter carried away by or held in suspension in a torrented watershed.
The originality of this research lies particularly in the methods used. Instead of making long observations on a single watershed, the studies were made simultaneously during a single torrential downpour, naturally variable in intensity in the different parts of the massif, with Home 30 catchment basins distributed throughout, but with highly comparable conditions from the standpoint of geology, pedology and plant cover; in short, all the factors that have a perceptible influence on run-off and erosion.
The average intensity of the rain was estimated, with the necessary corrections, by calculating the water-flow on suitably chosen hydrometric profiles. The solid discharges, practically stopped on the cones of detritus as a result of the peculiar lay of the land at the foot of the massif in question, were measured by surveying a number of profiles along these cones.
The most important points brought out by this study are:
1. The preponderant effect of torrential rains in the phenomena of erosion by water, A
single torrential downpour may cause greater erosion than all the annual rainfall in a normal year. It is possible to define, for a given catchment basin and taking into account the normal effects of erosion, the level of intensity of rainfall which may be called "torrential." In general, this level corresponds to an intensity of from 0.2 to 0.5 mm. a minute.
2. A distinct correlation between the intensity of torrential rains and the intensity of erosion caused by them, expressed by the volume of discharge of solid matter observed. Nevertheless, the annual average erosion does not always depend on the intensity of the torrential rains alone: the frequency of these rains is also of great importance. In the region studied by the author, the critical frequency, that is to say, the one likely to cause more than normal erosion, varied between 1 and 4 torrential rains every 10 years.
3. Proper forest management and reforestation of watersheds. Where there are torrential streams, these are of primary importance in reducing the amount of solid matter carried
