The items appearing here are condensed selection of news thought to be of interest to readers of UNASYLVA. They are grouped alphabetically by countries under headings currently used by the Forestry Division for reference purposes. FAO assumes no responsibility for statements in news items accepted in good faith from outside contributors.
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Industry and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
INDONESIA
· The Union of Foresters began publication of a journal of forestry Rimba Indonesia, in August 1952. Appearing in Dutch with brief summaries of most papers in English, each issue includes one or two original articles, these have dealt, for instance with forestry and food production in Java - including the taungya method used; the rapid and dangerous increase of soil erosion in Java, partly brought about through the destruction of forests during the war; possible forest exploitation of the region of Samarinda which is capable of producing a minimum of 2 cubic meters per hectare annually over an area of 875,000 hectares, which would help to bridge the present gap between Java's consumption of 7.5 million cubic meters a year and the indigenous production of 2 million cubic meters, and the possibilities for large-scale exploitation of Agathis forests of Borneo.
Land utilization on Java is much more intensive than that on the other islands of Indonesia, and illegal occupation and felling during the Japanese regime have presented many difficulties to reforestation programs. In 1952, an area of 43,000 hectares was put into cultivation under taungya, of which 27,500 hectares were planted with teak. Planned migration continues, aimed at diminishing the pressure of over-population in Java, and an Agrarian Commission has been established to draw up legislation assuring land rights for emigrants moved into other islands.
KOREA
· More than 5.5 million board feet (25,000 m³) of lumber has been purchased in Canada by the U.N. Korean Reconstruction Agency to aid in the rebuilding of Pusan, ravaged by fire last year.
MALAYA
· The Malayan Forester has been widely circulated to school children and their teachers in an attempt to instruct the younger generation in the principles and methods of sustained yield, and acquaint them with the objectives and work of the Forest Service Taking account of this new public for what is essentially a professional journal, senior officers have prepared excellent articles on these two vital aspects of the forester's problem. This significant move in the process of public education will be watched with interest, because, although formal reservation of Malayan forests is far advanced, the perennial conflict between the need for more agricultural land and the permanence of forest reservation nevertheless exists here as elsewhere.
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
· Southern Rhodesia, part of the Central African Federation, is a territory of 150,333 square miles (42.9 million ha.) lying roughly between the 25th and 33rd parallels of east longitude and the 15th and 22nd parallels of south latitude, being thus wholly within the tropics.
A relatively high region, surrounded on all sides by lower country, it has been estimated that more than 21 percent of the total area lies over 4,000 feet (1,200 m.) above sea level: the lowest point is 660 feet (200 m.) and the highest, in the Inyanga Mountains, over 8,500 feet (2,600 m.). There are many other ranges including the Chimanimani Mountains on the eastern border rising to over 7,000 feet (2,100 m.), and - a notable feature of the country - numerous eiselbergen, great granite domes rising from flattish surrounding country.
Rainfall is almost entirely confined to the summer season between October and April and varies from a minimum of 11 inches (280 mm.) on the southern border to a maximum of over 100 inches (2,500 mm.) in the Inyanga Mountains in the east. In general the country enjoys bright sunny days and clear nights, with the temperature varying very considerably from day to night. In the cold season, mean minima from 53° to 66° F (11 to 19° C) there is usually warm sunshine during the day, and in the hot season, mean maxima 65° to 84° F (18.5 to 29° C) the nights are generally pleasantly cool. Invasions of cold dry air from the south produce ground frosts.
The country is comparatively well wooded, some 58.9 percent of the total area being more or less covered with trees and shrubs. The vegetation consists for the most part of woodland and grassland, the former being found in two main types, closed forest and open forest or tree veldt
Closed forest is limited in area and is confined to regions of high rainfall or along stream banks; in the former region dominant species such as Khaya nyasica, Lovoa swynnertonii, and Trichilia chirindensis occur. Fringing forest species which depend largely on altitude, include Syzygium spp., Acacia spp. Trichilia emetica and Adina microcephala.
For purposes of the classification of tree veld, altitude, which is the dominant factor, has been taken to indicate the various zones when certain species are more numerous and characteristic. The eight main associations or types are:
(i) Parinari mobola, (ii) Terminalia sericea, (iii) Acacia spp. (iv) Uapaca kirkiana, (v) Brachystegia spiciformis, (vi) Baikiaea plurijuga, (vii) Brachystegia boehmii, (viii) Colophospermum mopane.Nos. (i)-(vi) may be considered high veld, (vii) middle veld and (viii) low veldt
Of the total forested area of 88,602 square miles (23 million ha.), 4,795 square miles (1.04 million ha.) are reserved State forest - shortly to be increased by approximately a further 3,400 square miles (881,000 ha.). There are 18,422 square miles (4.8 million ha.) of communal forest, and 30,535 square miles (8 million ha.) consists of unreserved State forest which is for the most part unexploitable: 31,450 square miles (8.1 million ha.) are privately owned and are mostly on farms and cattle ranches.
Up to the end of World War II forestry activities consisted mainly in the control of exploitation of indigenous forests, though there were two reserves dedicated to afforestation with exotic conifers and eucalypts. Since the war, as a result of experience gained on one of these reserves there has been large-scale expansion in afforestation with exotic conifers and there are now ten reserves on which active afforestation is being carried out. Mexican pines are the main species used and to those accustomed to rates of growth in the northern hemisphere, increments are phenomenal, a current annual increment of over 700 cubic feet per acre (49 ma per ha.) being not uncommon, with a mean annual increment of about 250 cubic feet per acre (18 ma per ha.).
To keep pace with this expanded afforestation, staff has tripled in the last six years and now stands at over 50 officers. An even greater rate of progress can be expected from 1954, when the duties of the Forest Department will be taken over by a Commission to be formed for the purpose. One of the Commission's first tasks must be an overall survey of existing timber resources, and propaganda on the use of species other than the three currently exploited, namely Baikiaea plurijuga, Pterocarpus angolensis and Guibortia colophosperma.
Private enterprise is also investing considerable sums in afforestation; there is one large company planting Acacia mollissima and several smaller companies engaged in planting pines or wattle or both. Many farmers are also planting eucalypts. and other species to meet their own requirements of poles and fuel.
SWEDEN
· Increased appropriations by Parliament have permitted a more comprehensive vocational training of forest owners and workers with both greater scope and a more clearly defined purpose. The Government provides grants for various types of vocational courses arranged by local Forestry Boards, and defrays the total cost of tuition and living allowances to students as well as three-quarters of other expenses. The remainder is raised locally. Students receive free tuition for all courses and a living allowance of 4 kronor per day. In addition, forest workers who attend courses of longer duration are reimbursed for travel expenses incurred and receive compensation for lost earnings at a rate of 5-11 kronor per day.
There are two forms of training in this field, namely, initial youth training and follow-up courses for those already in employment. Under a new school reform, which has been approved in principle by Parliament, the last elementary school year can also be devoted to preliminary vocational training. In rural areas this will usually take the form of training in agriculture and forestry. Most farm schools offer courses in forestry, a few devoting as much as 150 to 400 hours, with emphasis on practical training. Courses combining correspondence and oral instruction are a comparatively recent innovation. Theoretical instruction for about 1,500 students a year is given by correspondence with evening lectures by a forest expert. Practical training is arranged at intervals throughout the term and at a concluding course.
Follow-up courses usually last about one week each. They are intended for forest owners and workers and are limited to a single subject. More comprehensive courses in the techniques of forest work are also arranged, although on a small scale. Lasting for 3-4 weeks, they are intended to train forest workers for more independent and responsible tasks. Forestry Boards arrange longer courses for owners and prospective owners of forest farms.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Forty years ago the American Bankers Association - a trade organization for the banks of the nation - established an Agricultural Commission as one of the many sub-divisions of the Association, its work being essentially to keep abreast of agricultural problems and to assist member banks in meeting the credit needs of farmers.
Although many banks have actively participated in promoting forestry for some years, it was not until 1949 that a sub-committee on forestry was established as a part of the Agricultural Commission. The first effort of this body was to draw the attention of the State Bankers Associations to the many values involved in forestry programs. A forestry manual for banks has been prepared, showing some of the ways in which a bank may become acquainted with work that needs to be done in preserving timbered lands and developing them to their maximum usefulness. This manual, entitled Trees and Bank Accounts, is obtainable from the Agricultural Commission, American Bankers Association, 12 East 36 Street, New York 16, N.Y.
The Commission is fully aware of the important role that credit can play in the development of farm woodlands to their maximum productive capacity. National banks, however, cannot at present make loans on timberlands. It is felt that the removal of this restriction would have a powerful psychological effect on the promotion of forestry and on banks' interest in forestry.
· The U.S. Forest Service has recently issued a revised list of materials to help teach forest conservation at the elementary, junior high school, and senior high school levels; it is entitled Materials to Help Teach Forest Conservation (K-28, revised April 1953), obtainable from the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D.C. The list includes material for drawing up curricula, audio-visual aids, such as transcriptions, films, colored posters, charts, and colored maps; bulletins, bookmarks; tree description sheets; teaching outlines; and brief pamphlets.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Halogeton is a poisonous, succulent annual introduced into the western United States before 1934 from the Altai region of central Asia, singe when it has spread over about 1½ million acres (600000 ha.) of rangeland in Nevada, Utah, Idaho California, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado and has caused serious losses of sheep, particularly in Idaho.
Valuable ecological research on the plant was undertaken in 1950 by the University of Idaho and to date various facts have been brought to light affecting future occurrence and control. In all the grazing types studied, halogeton invariably occurred on areas where the native perennial stands of shrubs and grasses had been destroyed or badly weakened, prolonged overgrazing being the dominant cause of such destruction. On sites formerly dominated by sagebrush and captured by halogeton, seeding to vested wheatgrass and other grass species indicates that halogeton may be controlled by seeding. On the saline and very dry sites formerly supporting salt-desert shrub vegetation, reseeding is very difficult and, while crested wheatgrass shows some success, it has not been established that, on such sites, it will control halogeton. Thus it is probable at present that it will remain as a permanent resident on such sites. Reseeding, where possible, or improving residual stands of native grasses through management, offers some hope of control.
· During its first five years, the American Society of Range Management reached a total membership of 2,710, of whom 57 percent were technicians, 23 percent ranchers and stockmen, 9 percent professional students, and the balance unclassified. In a recent issue of the Journal of Range Management published by the Society, several technical studies are reported.
In Utah a four-year test involving the grazing of cattle at three intensities (light, moderate and heavy grazing) on land reseeded to crested wheatgrass with grazing in the spring and again in the fall after regrowth, has shown:
1. Acres required per cow-month were 3.1, 2.4 and 1.8 (1.3, 1.0 and 0.7 ha.) respectively for light, moderate and heavy grazing, in contrast to 12 to 15 acres (4.9 to 6.1 ha.) on comparable unseeded range.2. Average daily weight gains per cow were 3.03, 2.90 and 2.21 lb. (1.4, 1.3 and 1.0 kg.) under the three intensities.
3. Weight gains per cow per acre in the spring were 29, 36 and 35 lb. (32, 40 and 39 kg. per ha.) under the three intensities.
4. Heavily grazed pastures do not always provide enough regrowth for fall grazing.
5. Light grazing allows relatively unpalatable old-growth to accumulate.
6. Fewer new plants are being produced under heavy grazing than under the other two intensities, and present differences may become more pronounced.
A study of the desert grassland of the southwestern U.S.A., including analysis of earlier work, shows that much of this widespread and important formation is not a true climax but is rather a subclimax. Dating of fire sears on adjacent forests shows that, before fire control - measures were introduced, fires had occurred at intervals of from 5 to 12 years averaging about 7 years apart. Many areas which had a low population of shrubs half a century ago are now, since the advent of effective fire control, being strongly invaded by the more aggressive native shrubs; it therefore seems clear that in the past fire was an important factor in keeping desert grasslands open.
New light on the specific resistance to grazing of various range grasses of Nebraska shows that the grasses can be classified into groups having high and low growing points and high or low ratio of fertile to vegetative stems. Grasses with low growing points and low ratios of flower stalks usually were found to increase on heavily grazed ranges. These two factors have not hitherto been widely recognized as explaining the specific resistance of grasses to grazing.
A four-year study of frost heaving of reseeded grasses and legumes on burned-over chemise brushlands in California has shown that the percentage of loss of seedlings has varied from 0 to over 75 percent; that legumes were affected more severely than grasses; plants on northern exposures were heaved more severely than those on southern exposures; a fine rooted species heaved more severely than a coarse rooted species; strong and well established plants heaved less than younger and less well established plants. Differential frost heaving of brush seedlings was found, and this may account for differences in composition of brush stands on different aspects. Soil mulch greatly reduces frost heaving through moderating both high and low temperatures of the soil surface.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· With the implementation. of large afforestation programs in the prairie and semi-prairie regions of the U.S.S.R., there has been some disagreement on the effect of such planting on the ground water regime. It has been claimed that in order to exist these forests must draw upon the ground water, and that the level of ground water is lower under forest than in the open prairie. For this reason it is maintained that there should be no extensive plantations on the prairies as they may reduce the ground waters of the region. Experience at Veliko-Anatol does not seem to bear this out.
Veliko-Anatol, located in the prairie region near the Sea of Azov, is the oldest and the most famous of the forest plantations in the U.S.S.R. Now 110 years old, it was started as the first experimental plantation of the prairies. The treeless area to be planted was transected by a long and broad ravine, and at the upper and lower ends two large ponds were built. So long as the land surrounding the ravine still remained largely treeless, the water in the ponds kept about the same level As the plantations developed in height and density, it was noticed that the water level in the ponds began to fall until finally they dried up completely. This seemed to be conclusive evidence that the water that previously went to maintain the level of the ponds had been used by the growing trees. But as a matter of fact at the same time there appeared at the bottom of the ravine small springs which increased in number and size. A shallow well half way up the ravine in which the water level was 6 meters below the ground in 1892, gradually filled and singe 1947.48 has overflowed in a continuous stream. Another stream also appeared at the lower end of the ravine.
Research from 1948 onwards has proved that while the land surrounding the ravine remained treeless or poorly stocked, the precipitation that fell on the area ran off as surface water and maintained the water level in the ponds. As the land became forested, the surface run-off stopped and this caused the ponds to dry up. The precipitation now intercepted by the forest percolated into the ground to become a subterranean flow which caused springs to occur at the bottom of the ravine; it may eventually even fill the original ponds. Forests in the prairies do not then rob the ground waters and the old popular saying that "Forests beget rivers" seems to have been vindicated once more.
· A biological factor that controls the development of forest stands is the mass and the aggregate surface area of their green leaves. Since 1946 the Volga Forest Institute has been carrying out a study of the amount of foliage (both by weight and area) present in stands of different age-classes of five species, namely aspen, oak, pine birch and lime. The stands selected for study were pure, even-aged and naturally stocked, and had not previously been subjected to silvicultural operations. Sample areas were selected in stands ranging in age from 5 to 100 years for aspen; 5 to 250 years for oak, 12 to 150 years for pine; 5 to 85 years for birch, and 10 to 80 years for lime. Some 500 trees from the various age glasses and species were out down and their foliage analyzed as to weight (green and air-dry) and surface area - all reduced to a hectare basis.
Although the different species had certain special characteristics, one feature was found common to all: the amount of foliage both by weight and area naturally increases rapidly from the seedling to the sapling stage, then culminates at a certain age, in the case of aspen between 15-20, birch 20-25, oak 20-40, lime 20-30, and pine at 30 years. As the stands emerge from the sapling stage toward fuller maturity, the amount of foliage cover decreases abruptly due to the rapid natural thinning out and mortality of many trees. After a few years, however, this decrease levels out and the rate of leaf production remains stationary despite the continuing mortality of many trees. This state continues until the stands become very old - from 100 to 200 years according to species - when the amount of foliage produced shows a marked decline, although the dying out of the trees in the stand is small. As a result the stand opens up, permits more light to reach the ground and thus conditions favorable to natural regeneration are created
This knowledge of the relation between the development of the stands and their leaves may serve as a guide in many silvicultural practices such as the time and degree of thinning, intermediate cuttings and provisions for natural regenerations.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND CANADA
· Within the United States in recent years new methods have had to be devised to co-ordinate research work being done or planned on major subjects by many individuals, institutions and business concerns; for as each of these develops its own program, there are inevitably duplications and gaps in the program as a whole which could be avoided.
A comparable problem has obviously existed involving both Canada and the U.S.A., and several recent undertakings are seeking to bring together the professional workers from both countries in fields of mutual interest. These undertakings have certain common characteristics:
1. the large number of individuals employed by industry universities and various agencies of county, state and federal governments, each of which is engaged on fragments or aspects of the same problem;2. the willingness and even eagerness of workers to come together and report on their own work, present and prospective, and on key problems viewed from their own standpoint;
3. interest in discussing the most promising and profitable directions in which future work is needed;
4. active participation by senior officers of the various institutions and concerns;
5. the general trend to set up special committees with wide representation to further and go-ordinate future work;
6. the opportunity for all workers to keep thoroughly up-to-date with all work under way and planned, to discuss directly with each other objectives, techniques and possible or probable results of research.
Specific ventures of this sort, each having a strong international interregional flavor, are: the Lake States Forestry Clinic on using Chemical Controls in Forest Management, the Lake States Forest Genetics Conference the Central International Forest Insect and Disease Conference and the Forest Soils Symposium.
The Chemical Controls Clinic, though composed of U.S. nationals, has dealt with problems of immediate international interest, and was significant in attaching importance to the ecology and physiology of woody weeds, valuable contributions to its work were also made by experts employed by the large chemical concerns. It has emphasized the advantages of graduate studies in tackling organization problems, and has defined the scope and methods of cooperative projects involving public institutions, schools and universities, and industries.
The Lake States Forest Genetics Conference which included Canadian representation, covered both the work in progress and planned by various agencies in the region, and heard papers on work under way in other forest regions. The Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Committee developed out of the Conference and it is to be presumed that Canadian workers will continue to take part in this latter undertaking.
The Central International Forest Insect and Disease Conference had a fully balanced representation of both workers and leaders in forest entomology and forest pathology from both Canada and the U.S., and has formed itself into a continuing organization with a simplified statement of objectives. A significant feature of many of the reports was the emphasis on control through silviculture and methods other than direct control, together with a thorough analysis and statement of problems and the status of research on them.
The Forest Soils Symposium, though dealing primarily with the Douglas fir region in the States of Washington and Oregon, clearly will be of significance for the contiguous Douglas fir area of western Canada. Although work on forest soils has been under way in the region for only five years, much progress has been made, and the scope and complexity of the problem have expanded as study has developed. Problems tackled include the possible place of air photography in forest soils surveys, the relation of forest soils to productivity, forest regeneration and silvicultural treatment of forests.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· The ground cover in the forest, whether it is made up of grasses or various kinds of mosses, plays an important part in the life of the forest - especially with regard to its growth and natural regeneration. Some grasses, or even mosses, if they cover only part of the ground or form a loose covering do not harm the forest and at times may be even beneficial.. But in many oases mosses, especially the sphagnums and some species of the genus Polytrichum (Polytrichum commune) cover the ground solidly. They then intercept and absorb precipitation, prevent water from penetrating the ground, interfere with the passage of gases between the soil and the atmosphere change the water regime of the soil and create unfavorable conditions for tree growth. When this is the case, they lower the productivity of the forest and if they occur on a out-over area, they prevent young growth from coming up. The eradication of the moss cover in such oases becomes an essential silvicultural measure.
Experiments in eradicating moss were recently carried on in the Lisinsky Forest in the province of Leningrad.
It is a generally accepted fact that sphagnums do not tolerate lime, and die when sprayed with a solution of calcium carbonate. It is assumed that it is not the calcium that causes their death, but that the reaction with water increases the alkali concentration which results in the death of the cells. The ordinary commercial slaked lime in powdered form was therefore chosen to experiment on the eradication of moss. Applications ranged from 10 to 250 grams per m², with the results shown in the following table:
RESULTS OF APPLICATIONS OF SLAKED LIME TO MOSSES
|
Grams per m² |
Effects obtained |
|
10 - 25 |
Slight injury to sphagnum shoots (30%) |
|
50 |
Killed 30 - 50%, injured further 40% |
|
100 |
Killed all sphagnum shoots |
|
Up to 250 |
Eradicated all moss species |
The effect was the same under all conditions, no damage was observed to any other plants. The slaked lime must be applied on to the growing sphagnum shoots. It is the contact of the particles of lime with the growing points of the mosses that causes their death.
URUGUAY
· An FAO technical assistance officer advising on afforestation in Uruguay reports that the bulk of the planting to date has been with Eucalyptus globulus, and although this species has produced fuel and other small-sized products on a short rotation there are a number of oases where on reaching the age of 30 years or so the stands have commenced to die. Eucalyptus globulus occurs naturally at a latitude of from 40-43° south. It is a species of the cooler parts of Australia with a good winter rainfall, moderate summer temperatures and an absence of hot, dry winds. It reaches its best development on rather heavy soils or good quality loams in sheltered mountain valleys. It would therefore appear to be a species not suitable for Uruguay, and as there are other species of eucalypts. more suitable, it is recommended that the planting of Eucalyptus globulus be discontinued.
Large areas of coastal sand dunes have been planted with Pinus pinaster, which has done exceptionally well, even on raw sands, and it is recommended that it be continued to be used for this purpose. The use of the "Leira" strain of P. pinaster should be investigated. Plantings of Pinus radiata have been observed on various soil types and it is obvious that this species should be used more extensively in future planting programs.
The use of any species of Araucaria is not recommended for wholesale planting, but their use in trial plots is certainly recommended. It is interesting to note that the following species of Araucaria can be found in the parks and gardens of Montevideo: Araucaria angustifolia, A. excelsa, A. cookii, A. cunninghamii, A. bidwillii and A. araucana. Of these A. excelsa, A. cunninghamii and A. bidwillii are well worth further trial. Other trees which were noted as growing well in Uruguay are: Agathis australis, Cedrus deodara and C. atlantica, Cupressus torulosa, various species of Casuarina, Salix, Populus, Platanus, Ulmus, Fraxinus, Quercus and Abies.
For a planting program for the production of commercial forests it is recommended that plantings be confined to the following species: Pinus pinaster, P. radiata, P. caribbaea and P. patula; Eucalyptus saligna, E. botryoides, E. maculata, E. paniculata, E. teretecornis, E. camaldulensis, E. diversicolor and E. siderophloia.
Good work has already been done on the draining and planting of swamp areas with Salix and Populus and other deciduous species. The technique of drainage, and the establishment and management of such plantations have been developed to a high level. The continued use of this type of planting as part of the planting program would appear to be desirable.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The National Forest Advisory Council has recently completed a thorough analysis of the access road problem in U.S. National Forests. The study was initiated as a result of questions raised by committees of the Council and by individual firms and organizations of forest producing industries regarding the program and proposals previously developed by the Forest Service.
The study involved field analyses in five of the nine National Forest regions, on many individual National Forests, and on a large number of existing or proposed access road projects. A committee particularly the need for, and early development of, a comprehensive access road system, the respective extents to which the work in building such a system should be financed by the Forest Service and by private operators; and methods of Government financing. The main conclusions and recommendations of the Council were that:
1. A complete system of main access roads should be developed on the National Forests during the next few years.2. Federal construction should make up the backbone of the access road system on the National Forests.
3. Emergency situations should not be allowed to govern long-term policy on access road construction,
4. Federal construction of the key access roads is not a move towards governmental interference.
5. The policy of the Forest Service in the construction of access roads should take into consideration the need for making reasonable provision for all classes of dependent timber operators.
6. Operator construction of access roads should in general be restricted to secondary or branch roads.
7. Co-operative financing of main access roads by private operators and the Government is desirable and in the best interests of both parties when ownership is interspersed or contiguous.
8. Current trends indicate that Federal funds made available for main access road building will be returned promptly in timber sale receipts.
9. The planning and execution of a satisfactory access road program by the Forest Service is not possible without a stable annual authorization and allocation of funds.
10. The minimum amount of Federal funds which will adequately implement the access road program of the Forest Service is 25 million dollars on an annual basis for a minimum period of five years.
Regular and adequate Congressional appropriations are considered most desirable, while the allocation of funds from other departments or agencies as an emergency measure is at times desirable, but is prima facie evidence that adequate regular provision for an access road program has not been made.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· The Ministry of Forestry is laying considerable stress on the mechanization of all forest operations especially those requiring heavy manual labor. Mechanization of logging operations has made great strides in the last 10-12 years, and it has been officially reported that the Ministry now has equipment for mechanically operating 91 percent of timber cutting, 60 percent of skidding and 88 percent of hauling operations. In silviculture however, mechanization did not begin in earnest until 1949, after the adoption of the plan for "remaking nature" in the autumn of 1948.
Although many machines of all sorts are now available for preparing the soil, for sowing and planting, for cultivation etc., in addition to numerous tractors, scrapers, bulldozers and graders, only a relatively insignificant part of all silvicultural operations has been mechanized for the country as a whole. The greatest progress has been made in the preparation of the ground for sowing and planting of trees, chiefly in the prairie and semi-prairie regions. In the latter, over 92 percent of the land to be sown or planted to trees is now plowed and harrowed with the aid of tractors; in the forested regions, however, only a little over one-half (56 percent) is being worked with tractors.
The work of sowing and planting is mechanized to a much smaller degree, amounting in the prairie and semi-prairie regions to about 39 percent of the work, and for the country as a whole to some 23 percent. Still less mechanized is the work involved in tending plantations. Only 12 percent of these silvicultural operations is done by machines over the country as a whole, and only a little more - 17 percent - in the prairie and semi-prairie regions, while the work of seed collection remains totally unmechanized.
It was only natural that mechanization of silvicultural operations should have advanced most rapidly in the prairie where the level open country lends itself to the same treatment as agricultural land for which machinery had already been largely developed. In forested regions land to be reforested had often first to be cleared of stumps, for which special tools and machinery were needed; for assisting natural regeneration special disking plows were necessary, as in the ease of digging machinery for draining swamps. Much research is now in progress to meet these particular needs but the complexity of the conditions makes development slow. There are, for instance, 60 types of tree planting machines, of which only very few approach a satisfactory performance. It is, however, the aim of the Ministry of Forestry to mechanize practically all silvicultural operations.
CANADA
· A study has been made in the Algoma area of Ontario of the mortality rate of balsam fir attacked by spruce budworm, during and after an outbreak of the budworm.
The sampling was done by the continuous-tally strip method at irregular intervals, changing the tally when a change in tree cover type occurred. Tree cover was classified by percentage species composition based on basal area at breast height, and it was found that the basal area of fir and spruce better expressed the amount of foliage or insect food material than did total stem volume. The principal work was done in localities where mortality of fir was 75 percent.
In such areas, and in most cover types, percentage mortality of fir increased with the basal area of fir per acre, and percentage mortality generally increased with the relative height of fir in the stand. Generally the highest degree of fir mortality occurred in types where the softwood component was mainly fir, spruce or pine, and was low where the component was chiefly cedar or a mixture of species. Where fir was in the intermediate height class, percentage mortality decreased as the proportion of hardwoods increased; where fir was understorey, mortality increased with increased proportions of hardwoods; where fir was codominant, the proportion of hardwoods did not affect mortality. An outbreak may occur where the quantity of fir is as little as three cords per acre (18.5 m³ per ha.) and vulnerability at low densities may introduce great management difficulties.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· In the southeastern United States special tractor-powered fire line plow have long been used in fire suppression and, in 1952, were used on about 45 percent of the forest fires in this National Forest region. Three different units are used: a line disc plow pulled by a crawler tractor of 20 drawbar horsepower and medium and heavy disc plows pulled by crawler tractors of about 38 drawbar horsepower. Experience indicates that three-man plow units replace from twelve to twenty men with hand tools. The average size of fires has been reduced 82.5 percent in comparison hand work, and average cost by 48 percent.
Recent field studies in other forest regions of the U.S.A. indicate that there are several regions, including parts of Arizona and New Mexico as well as states of the Middle West and California, in which the fire line plow can be effectively used. The production rate of this unit is high averaging three miles (4.8 km.) of completed line an hour over level or rolling country and 1 ½ miles (2.4 km.) an hour in mountain country. The unit is not designed for very steep topography, rocky soils or very heavy cover.
· The effectiveness of herbicidal spraying to control undesirable plants on rangelands depends on distribution of the spray, which may account for apparent discrepancies in the results of different experiments. Thus a satisfactory method for measuring the variation in spray coverage is necessary. Such a method, recently developed in California, involves the use of paper, previously dipped in tannic acid solution which is sensitive to aqueous emulsion sprays containing a small amount of ferric chloride and on which spray patterns develop quickly. Use of this method makes it possible to determine swath width, to compare relative droplet size and distribution of sprays from different types of equipment and to determine the quantity of 2,4-D actually deposited upon plants.
· The first really severe losses of young sugar and ponderosa pines caused by the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus monticolae) recently occurred in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. The young stands had developed under a residual stand of old timber left after early logging, and were 40 to 70 years old. Greatest losses occurred where the stand density index was high, and highest percentage losses were among intermediate and suppressed pines in contrast to the dominant and codominant trees; however, as infestations gained headway, the more vigorous overstorey trees were also successfully attacked.
Two possible methods of preventing attacks are:
(1) thinning out of the subordinate and more susceptible trees in over-dense stands - a measure which is not now economically self-supporting due to lack of markets for such products;(2) removal of a large part of the overwood, thereby reducing suppression of the younger stands, which is economically feasible.
It is not yet known to what extent similar attacks may appear elsewhere, but this first case is recognized as a very serious potential threat, particularly to the maintenance of sugar pine, in many Californian forests.
SWEDEN
· The third national forest survey was started in 1953 following a new method. The first and second national surveys were carried out in 1923-29 and 1938-62 respectively, the former as a line survey and the second as a combined line and plot survey; provinces were surveyed one by one, a further survey being made after an interval of 16-20 years.
For the 1963 inventory, results are to be published year by year for the whole country which is divided into five regions, and are to be expressed in cubic meters of standing trees (m³ sk. = "forest cubic meters") for growing stock, increment and cut. One of the main reasons for introducing this new type of inventory is the need for a reliable statistical method of estimating the annual cut (by registering the stumps of the last cutting season).
The survey will be carried out by a "tract survey system", which may be described briefly as follows: the whole country is divided into approximately 10,000 "tracts". One-tenth of these tracts, regularly spaced, will be surveyed yearly, a broken line of about 6-9 km. being investigated. This line is laid out on the map and covers the four sides of a square. Thus each year about 1,000 tracts will be inventoried together with some 9,000 sample plots on forest land. The total length of the surveyed lines will be about the same as in the second national survey, the lines of which will serve as a basis for the new system, the squares being placed along the previous lines; detailed enumeration will be made very much in the same way as in the second survey.
JAPAN
· As much as 98.6 percent of the total forest-owners in Japan are small owners holding less than 20 hectares and most of them are often forged to out immature stands in order to support themselves and their families. To restrict the cutting of immature stands, the poorer forest-owners need credits from national funds. Under the Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Loan Law, measures are being taken to grant credits to forest-owners through their Associations on the security of forests placed under certain restrictions. The maximum term of the credits is 26 years and the rate of interest 4 percent per annum. In addition 0.6 to 1 percent commission has to be paid to the Forest Owners' Association and 0.1 to 0.3 percent premium on forest fire insurance.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Competition between deer and sheep for grazing on forest land often gives concern to foresters, farmers and wildlife enthusiasts. A report of four years' study of this problem in central Utah appears in the Journal of Wildlife Management. Most of the 10,000 acres (4,000 ha.) kept under observation had been overgrazed in the past and was in a more or less -depleted condition.
Deer grazed over the entire area except for rocky cliffs and ledges; sheep used only 80 percent of the area. On summer range, fortes provided 71 percent of the deer forage, browse 22 percent and grasses and sedges 7 percent; summer sheep forage consisted of 37 percent fortes, 28 percent browse and 36 percent grasses and sedges. On spring range, grasses although scarce, made up the largest part of both deer and sheep diets; browse and grass together provided 88 percent of the forage and there was great similarity in choice of species.
In their autumn grazing, sheep selected the same forage species that were subsequently chosen by deer in their winter grazing. Where winter range was used in common by deer and sheep, it was again apparent that their diets were much alike.
The similarity of deer and sheep diets causes management conflicts wherever the supply of preferred species is inadequate to satisfy the requirements of both animals. Even where there is an adequate forage supply, farmers contend that sheep numbers could be increased if part of the deer population was removed, and foresters make the reverse claim. Conflict is less on spring range which is used at different times and during different stages of vegetative growth than on summer range which is used at the same time and for a longer period.
BRITISH WEST INDIES
· Sawnwood is the most valuable export of the Bahamas. Other islands of the British West Indies and Cuba are the principal purchasers, and the United Kingdom the main buyer of pitprops. The chief sources of supply of sawn wood are Abaco and Grand Bahama, but the latter is by far the more important source.
CHILE
· The 20 million U.S. dollar loan granted by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the Cia. Manufacturera de Papeles y Cartones, guaranteed by a mortgage and the Chilean Development Corporation, represents the biggest amount ever signed for in Santiago.
The company will invest the loan in the installation of a newsprint mill in Concepción and a cellulose plant in Bio-Bio. The FAO Forestry Mission has been closely concerned with certain aspects of this development.
FINLAND
· A committee appointed by the Finnish Government in 1963 to investigate costs of production in the timber industry reported that the cost of producing newsprint was 28,291 Finnish marks per ton when the export price was 27,000 marks f.o.b. and the inland price 23,600 marks per ton. The cost of production of kraft paper was 39,604 marks per ton, excluding cost of shipping to harbor, when the export price was 33,260 marks f.o.b. Kraft pulp cost only 19,081 Finnish marks in Sweden against 24,862 marks in Finland, and the total cost of production of kraft paper in Sweden was only 29,643 Finnish marks. The committee did not analyze the causes of this situation.
The average price for sawn wood in the 1949-60 felling season was 77.1 Finnish marks per cubic foot (2,722 marks per m³) as compared with 136 marks (4,767 per m³) in 1963. Against this rise of more than 70 percent, wages had increased by over 60 percent since the first half of 1960.
The Agricultural Producers' Central Association had already pointed out that the price of standing timber in the 1962-63 felling season was only 11 times greater than in 1937-38 while wages were 20 times higher. They claimed that a farmer in central Finland had to sell 42.4 cubic meters of spruce pulpwood in order to buy a mowing machine for which he paid the equivalent of only 32.4 cubic meters of wood in 1938, he had to pay the equivalent of 196.8 cubic meters for a threshing machine against 116.2 cubic meters in 1938.
The Association also claimed that the average price for standing timber was 76 Finnish marks per cubic foot (2,648 per m³) which represented only 17,700 marks or 38 percent of the current total production cost of 46,663 marks per standard of sawn timber, in 1937-38, standing timber represented 66 percent of the total cost. As regards sulphite pulp, standing timber represented only 16.6 percent of the cost as compared with 37 percent in 1937-38. On the other hand, wages represented 44 percent of the cost of sawn timber and 63 percent of sulphite pulp. The pulp mills claimed that even if the standing timber cost nothing, this would not make good their losses.
UNITED KINGDOM
· In connection with the Government's decision to abolish controls on timber, the following statement was issued by the Chairman of the Timber Development Association
"The Government's long awaited decision to abolish all controls on the consumption of softwood, hardwood, plywood and veneers will be welcomed by all users of wood.
Now, for the first time singe 1939, timber and plywood are free to compete on level terms with other materials, and the consumer has once more freedom of choice - the only reliable assurance we can have that materials will be used for the purposes for which they are best suited.
Considerable technical advances affecting the use of timber have been made in recent years, and the Government's decision now presents industry with the opportunity of making full use of the research and development work which has been undertaken. There can be no doubt that these developments will lead to greater efficiency, lower costs and increased productivity."
FRANCE
· A new combination insecticide, fungicide and anti-splitting agent for the treatment of logs, particularly in the tropics and marketed as Cryptogil DC 6 has been developed in France and tested extensively in Africa. The agent may be applied by brush or spray at the rate of about l/2 pound per square yard (0.3 kg. per m²) of log surface immediately or very promptly after felling and log making. All logs except those with very thin, smooth, tight barks should be debarked before treatment, and it is important that the whole log be covered. It is claimed that the treatment lasts even during prolonged heavy rains, and may be applied during light rains; the treated logs may also be floated.
UNITED KINGDOM
· The improved standards of accommodation demanded for fishing vessels have led to the introduction of many new materials throughout the accommodation spaces, and for furniture and upholstery. The fundamental requirements are that the materials should be capable of standing up to hard service conditions and the marine atmosphere. They should be fireproof or reasonably fireproof and also resistant to attack by vermin.
Cabin bulkheads and furniture are constructed from synthetic materials derived from a mixture of wood fibers and a synthetic resin such as Weyroc or Holoplast, the latter being of hollow form. These materials are said to be resistant to water, oil and acids and have good fire resisting properties. They are also impervious to attack by vermin. One advantage of these materials is that they can be supplied in a number of colours. They are easy to out and form and in the ease of the hollow panels, give good sound and heat insulation.
In all large modern fishing ports in Great Britain, wood for crates and boxes, kits and all handling receptacles is being superseded by aluminium. The fish is landed in specially constructed boxes or kits and subsequently transported in ridded boxes or liner crates to the wholesale market and retailer. The boxes and kits are entirely of aluminium whilst the liner crates consist of a wood slatted orate in which is a detachable pressed lining of aluminium, the lid being sheathed with the same material.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A portable sawmill using a band saw for the head-rig has been designed and used by a lumber company in the State of Washington, to improve utilization in 100-year-old second-growth Douglas-fir stands averaging 24 inches (61 em.) d.b.h. and 68 M board feet per acre (660 m3 per ha.). Logging and sawmilling are fully integrated. About 6 percent more lumber volume per acre was obtained than by other methods and, compared with the general average for the area in similar stands, the new practices reduced logging residuals by 70 percent. The mill can profitably handle chunks and tops of 6-inch (12.7 cm.) top diameter that will produce logs 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm.) and 8 feet (2.4 m.) long. The total investment in the unit is about $ 86,000 and production required 4.4 man-hours per M board feet (4.63 m³) lumber tally.
CHILE
· The Departamento de Bosques of the Ministry of Lands and Colonization has been raised to the status of a Dirección. The new organization comprises a director (director agronomo), 11 forestry technicians in the higher grades (tecnico forestal or agronomo) and 33 in the lower grades (tecnico forestal). Señor Hernan Valenzuela R. has been appointed Director of the new organization and has the distinction and responsibility of being Chile's first Director of Forests.
FINLAND
· Laws against destructive forest cutting have long been in force in Finland. For instance, the 1886 forest law included some clearly defined regulations for the prevention of fellings causing devastation, which were, however, not very effective in practice, mainly because they were not satisfactorily enforced. Only when the present private forest law, promulgated in 1928, and the accompanying regulations came into force, was there a great improvement in forest protection forestry.
This law, although a good basis for the management and utilization of the most important Finnish forests, is no longer abreast of developments in forestry and is not sufficiently flexible. For this reason the Government has appointed a committee to make proposals for the revision of legislation relating to private forests.
INDIA
· In pursuance of the new forest policy published by the Government of India on 12 May 1962 and the recommendations made by the planning commission set up at that time, progress has been maintained in coordinating the activities of the Forest Departments of the various States, aiming at all-round development. Some of the measures taken by State Governments to implement the national policy are as follows:
1. Sustained efforts to educate public opinion in the value of forests, principally through the Vana Mahotsava (Grow More Trees Campaign) and Vana Premi Sangh (Forest Lovers Association).2. Steps have been taken by some State Governments, notably Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bhopal, to control the management of private forests although these are for the most part passing to Government ownership as a result of land reform.
3. Some States have laid down the percentage of land to be kept under forests; in the ease of Orissa 36 percent of the total land area, and for Bihar 20 percent.
4. The Government of Orissa has set up a Land Utilization Board and Bihar has initiated action for undertaking a detailed survey of all waste land with a view to its most appropriate utilization.
5. Some States have framed their own legislative measures to protect wildlife, after the passing of a resolution in April 1952 setting up a Central Board for Wildlife.
Other projects now being carried out under the new forest policy are:
1. Afforestation to arrest the spread of the Rajasthan desert; areas were surveyed by officers of the Central Government, constructive proposals made to tackle the problem and an experimental station set up at Jodhpur. The question of the after-care of the planted areas has been given particular attention, and the retaining of residuary powers of legislation considered in order to compel the local inhabitants to subordinate individual interests to the scheme as a whole. These methods have also been applied to similar areas afforested in the State of Madras along the banks of the Hagari.2. Exploitation of the forests of the North Andaman Islands: this project, inaugurated in 1951 has progressed satisfactorily, and it is anticipated that as extraction of hard and soft timber proceeds, the present scarcity of timber of all kinds in India itself will be greatly eased.
3. An expedition to the Great Nicobar islands disclosed that on a sustained yield basis over a rotation of 100 years, these islands can produce about 30,000 tons of timber a year, or one-quarter of the yield of the North and South Andaman islands. As fresh water is plentiful, these islands provide a better opportunity for colonization than the Andamans.
4. Research at the Forest Research Institute Dehra Dun, has been directed mainly to the utilization of products at present considered useless or of low economic value, and achievements are reported in connection with the following products - Friol paint, Santonin, Vetiveria oil. A number of broadleaved species and grasses have been tested for the production of chemical pulp for the manufacture of writing and printing papers and newsprint, of which some were found suitable. (It may be noted that an entire edition of the newspaper The Statesman has been successfully printed on paper made in India from 70 percent bagasse pulp and 30 percent bamboo pulp).
Lastly, for the purpose of integrating forest policy as applied throughout the various States, the Government of India has set up a Central Board of Forestry with the Minister for Food and Agriculture as Chairman. The Board, composed of Forestry Ministers of the various States, will meet at least once every two years, and has the power to appoint technical committees to consider such inter-state matters as the training of officers, timber standardization, and flood control and anti-erosion measures.
ITALY
· A law promulgated on 25 July 1952 outlines a general pattern for technical, economic and social advancement of all mountain areas and replaces all previous legislation which was inadequate to meet the pressing problems of the Italian mountain economy as a whole. The new law provides for loans and subsidies to private enterprise and allows combined governmental and private action where interests are involved.
The various fields of action envisaged by the law are: forestry, agriculture and livestock production, and last but not least public works, including water works, electric transformer stations, cableways, telephone networks, roads, etc. All these activities are to be coordinated by the State Forestry Corps, which comes under the General-Directorate for Forestry and Mountain Economy.
Rehabilitation plans are at present being drawn up for the 61 reclassified watershed areas; three are so far completed. Over 41 million fire have already been allocated to the local forestry bureaus for plans which are scheduled to be completed shortly and a further 500 million fire are being distributed among all reclassified areas in order to get work started on soil conservation.
RYUKYU ISLANDS
· The results of a land use and forest resource survey are published in an economic report entitled Ryukyu Islands Forest Situation. This report in addition to statistical data, includes an account of post-war developments in administration and management. Area statistics for land use have been established which now provide a basis for budgetary requirements in the field of natural resources, as well as for future detailed surveys to aid in resettlement programs.
Other developments include:
1. Pine beetle control project: this, the first of its kind to be initiated in the Ryukyu Islands, was carried out by the Forestry Bureau as a precautionary measure against the spread of infestations from Japan.2. Access road program: the purpose of this program is to shift cutting from depleted accessible lands to the relatively inaccessible state forest lands.
3. Publications: in collaboration with the civil administration, the Forestry Bureau's Experimental Institute has published botanical and dendrological works as a basis for programs of economic development.
4. Arbor Week: the Ryukyu Arbor Week, inaugurated in 1951, has resulted in the planting of slightly over a million seedlings, or 1.1 seedlings per head of the total population.
5. Forest law: the present Ryukyu Forest Law was promulgated as a U.S. Civil Administration ordinance in August 1951 and prepared jointly by American and Japanese foresters. It sets forth a policy for uniting the administration of all forest land, in all ownership categories, under a single agency.
A Forest Policy for the Ryukyu Islands, prepared by an American consultant in timber management has provided guidance in improving the management of state forests and in increasing sales of state forest stumpage on a sound silvicultural basis. Trespass and other abuses to which other state forest properties were subjected in post-war years from 1945 - 1950 have now been largely brought under control.
In April 1952 the Ryukyu Forestry Agency became the Forestry Bureau of the Government of the Ryukyu Islands.
