Radiata pine in Chile

by C. W. SCOTT, FAO Technical Assistance Officer Professor of Timber Utilization, University of Chile, Santiago

This article is based on a lecture delivered at the University of Concepción. A considerable volume of information on Pinus radiata was forthcoming from the 1954 New Zealand Timber Conference. The writer did not have access to this material but his paper summarizes much useful reference information from many scattered sources.

The home of Pinus radiata, also called Pinus insignis, is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of San Francisco in Monterey County of California, U.S.A., where it is native to a very small coastal area about 10 miles (16 kilometers) long by 3 miles (5 kilometers) deep. The species is of no appreciable commercial account in North America, but it has become of very great commercial importance in the Southern Hemisphere where over half a million hectares of the pine have been planted. Thus from a small native range of some 30 square miles (7,800 hectares) of Monterey in California have come over 1,700 square miles (440,000 hectares) of densely stocked plantations in the Southern Hemisphere.

Table 1 shows the approximate areas of plantations reported to exist in the countries concerned in the years shown. The only figures available in Chile at the moment relate to different years between 1948 and 1953 but are adequate for a broad picture of the position.

Table 1. - Approximate extent of plantations of Pinus radiata in the southern hemisphere

Country	Area of plantations		Year for which data are available	Remarks
	(Ha.)	(Sq. miles)
New Zealand	222000	867	1952-3	About 148,000 hectares of privately-owned and 74,000 hectares of state owned plantations
Chile	173000	668	1953	Mainly privately owned, being increased by some 10,000 hectares annually
Australia	40000	154	1951	Chiefly in the State of South Australia and Government owned
South Africa	12000	46	1948	Out of some 180,000 (1950) hectares of conifer plantations of all species. Almost all the radiata pine is Government owned
	447000	1757

Growth and weight of wood

Pinus radiata belongs to the botanical sub-genus of the hard and pitch pines or Diploxylon (the name refers to the number of vascular bundles in the leaves).

The rate of growth of the tree in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Chile appears fairly similar where the soil and rainfall are comparable, being fast to very fast in all four countries. Thus in the South African trees to be described below, which were tested carefully for weight and strength at various points in their boles, the average number of annual rings per inch of stem radius over 30 years was approximately four, to produce a tree of 16.8 inch diameter under bark, at breast height, in 33.5 years. The number of rings per radial inch varied, of course, from 2.2 near the pith to 6.6 near the bark.

Table 2. - Variation in annual growth rings in South African trees

Age, in years	Annual rings, per radial inch
1 to 5	2.3
6 to 10	2.2
11 to 15	5.0
16 to 20	5.5
21 to 25	5.9
26 to 30	6.6
30 and over	no data shown

The average weight of the adult wood of radiata pine, laid on after about the first 12 years' growth of juvenile or core wood, appears to be often about 33 pounds per cubic foot (529 kilograms per cubic meter) at a moisture content of 15 percent of its oven-dry weight. Usually the first 12 or so annual rings of wood which it lays on around the pith, medulla or dead center of its bole are relatively lighter in weight and lower in strength than the adult wood laid on in annual rings or layers after about the twelfth year of the tree's life. This average weight of 33 pounds per cubic foot (529 kilograms per cubic meter) is a common one for hard pines, including such. widely known commercial timbers as the Scots pine or "red deal" of Northern Europe (P. sylvestris), the maritime pine of the Landes of southwest France (P. pinaster or maritima), and the red pine of eastern North America (P. resinosa). It is some 6 pounds per cubic foot (96 kilograms per cubic meter) more than the common weight of the soft or 5-needled pines, which average about 27 pounds per cubic foot (144 kilograms per cubic meter), air dry, and is about 4 to 11 pounds per cubic foot (64 to 176 kilograms per cubic meter) less than the dense resinous pines found in the southeast of the U.S.A. and in the Caribbean, known as southern yellow pine or pitch pine. Further, this common weight of adult air-dry radiate pine wood (33 pounds per cubic foot) is the same as the average weight of the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) exported from North America, other than the selected, dense, slowly grown and very strong lumber from virgin stands of that species.

Strength

Weight at known moisture content, in any given kind of timber, is usually a very good index of the strength in bending and crushing and of the hardness of the timber. Numerous standard strength tests of Monterey pine in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand bear this out. They also show the excellent strength of the adult wood of this species, and the rather surprisingly satisfactory strength of its average wood, cut from logs of only 15 inch (38 centimeters) diameter or less, even when in that case the 2 x 2 inch (5 x 5 centimeters) test pieces or the structural sizes inevitably include a considerable proportion of juvenile wood from near the pith. Pinus radiata (as a species) appears to form wood of reasonable strength and general quality even when growing very fast. Table 3 shows the standard strength data determined in the Forest Products Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, and also some comparable strength figures for well-known European and North American conifers imported into South Africa.

Table 3. - Mean sample tree strength data for P. radiata, grown in South Africa ¹

	Modulus of rupture (static bending)		Maximum crushing strength		Hardness
	lb./sq. in.	g./cm²	lb./sq. in.	g./cm²	End		Side
					lb.	kg.	lb.	kg.
P. radiata	12500	879000	5150	362000	1100	500	790	358
Scots pine	11200	787000	6360	447000	740	336	550	249
Douglas fir	11700	823000	7420	522000	760	345	670	304

NOTE. Average mechanical properties corresponding to the mean tree sampled.

¹ 34 years old, 46.25 cm. in diameter over bark at breast height, at 12 percent moisture content.

The above data show that the relatively young and fast grown radiate pine wood is stronger than the imported wood in bending and hardness but that in crushing strength it is 19 percent less strong than imported Scots pine and 31 percent less strong than the imported Douglas fir. (It is not difficult, of course, to make up for this lower strength by a larger cross-section, at least in properly designed house-building).

It is clear from the work in South Africa and elsewhere that the mere width of the annual rings, or in other words the number of such rings per radial inch, is not alone a good direct index of strength.. The weight and strength of South African pine increase radially outwards from the pith towards the bark, and also decrease upwards in the stem, at least for some considerable time. However, as the weaker annual rings near the pith are usually wider than the stronger rings which occur further out towards the bark, these younger and wider rings are usually an indication of lower weight and strength. Their sharper curvature or smaller radius is also an easily seen index of their position in the stem and probable lower weight and strength.

Seasoning or drying

The wood is relatively easy to dry quickly and without distortion, compared with Chilean hardwoods, especially coigüe, roble, ulmo and tineo, either in the open air or in a kiln. Shrinkage during drying and stability after drying are relatively moderate and favorable, provided there is no spiral grain or compression wood, and that as far as possible one avoids or does not expect too much of the smaller dimension pieces with very wide juvenile annual rings on one face and less wide and older rings on the other face; because these two types of wood, the juvenile type near the pith and the adult type further away from the pith, shrink differently and tend to cause distortion even with careful handling.

Compression wood is a well-known defect which is found in many softwoods, on the concave side of leaning trees or the underside of branches. It is known in German as rotholz. The cell walls of such wood are extremely thick and the wood is very dense. The fibrils of the cell walls are inclined away from the vertical to an abnormal extent and may be nearer horizontal than vertical. As a result, compression wood shrinks abnormally in a longitudinal direction and is apt to cause bad distortion. The corresponding defect in hardwoods is called tension wood, and occurs on the convex side of leaning trees or the upper side of branches, with similar results to the wood.

Grading

There is no difficulty in devising practical grading rules for radiate pine. It has been done in various countries and with marked success in South Africa by the Forest Products Institute. There is great need for special grading rules in Chile, as the existing rules for Chilean timbers in general are not satisfactory for the purpose. Draft rules based on the well-proven grading rules for the somewhat similar southern yellow pine of the U.S.A. (P. palustris, caribaea, taeda and echinata) have been drawn up by the Corporación Chilena de la Madera (Corma) in collaboration with FAO and are now under trial by a leading producer of radiate pine in Chile.

Knots are the chief item which must be controlled in such rules, as to size, number and kind (tight, loose, etc.). Later in this paper the excellent results of early pruning of side branches in South African practice will be referred to. By such pruning, where the labor for it is available and cheap enough, the proportion of clear wood free of all knots can be greatly increased and the average grade and value of the lumber raised correspondingly.

A still simpler and cheaper way to raise the grade of radiate pine lumber is to dip it in an anti-blue stain bath as it comes from the saw, using penta-chlor-phenol if available, or possibly a 5 percent solution of borax. The latter is better against the stain fungi which attack hardwoods such as tepa than for conifers. This matter also will be referred to again later in this paper.

Durability

The heartwood of this timber has appreciable natural durability but the sapwood has none. The sapwood is indeed very susceptible to attack by rotting fungi, especially if in contact with the ground or at a moisture content of over 20 percent. It is also liable to attack by termites and other insects, whether wet or dry. Fortunately, both the sapwood and the heartwood are permeable and very easily treated with preservative oils or salt solutions, which is a most important characteristic. It means that young and fast grown wood of radiate pine, largely sapwood, can be given excellent durability and made suitable for outdoor uses, even in the ground, if it is properly impregnated, through and through or to an adequate depth, by a good preservative which will not leach out. The best method of treatment is in a pressure cylinder; but where that is not possible or is not necessary (because the wood is to be used in a dry climate or relatively little exposed to the wet with consequent danger of decay) very good results can be got by simpler methods, such as open tank soaking, dipping, a diffusion treatment, or even brushing, so long as adequate penetration is secured and the preservative does not leach out subsequently. Brushing is the least effective method and only suitable with specially penetrating preservatives and in special cases, where the risk of decay is not severe. It is not effective with ordinary preservatives for fence posts to be set in the ground.

Use of Radiata pine

South Africa

South Africa has about the same area of exotic pine plantations as Chile but in 1951 no one species made up more than 26 percent of the total area. The crop was of eight species of pine, including about 26 percent of Pinus pinaster (maritima), 22 percent of P. patula (from Mexico), 14 percent of P. caribaea, 12 percent of P. longifolia (from the Himalayas), 10 percent of P. radiata and smaller amounts of other pines. This contrasts with New Zealand and Chile, where P. radiata is the chief species planted on a very large scale,- which represents a serious risk of possible epidemic attack by insects and fungi. This risk should be reduced as soon as possible by planting other fast growing pines or conifers, suited to the soils and climate, in reasonable proportions.

There has been about 70 years' experience of radiate pine in South Africa, for it was introduced there in 1870 and serious planting of the tree began in 1881. Laboratory tests and large-scale use of the species show that properly prepared mature lumber, say from trees at least 30 years old and of 15 inch (38 centimeters) diameter under bark at breast height, is equal to imported Scots pine (P. sylvestris) from northern Europe. The complaints of warping and excessive knots in radiate pine are unfair to the species. They relate only to immature timber from too young trees, semi-seasoned and ungraded. The same complaints would arise with lumber of that type from any other species of conifer.

The lumber of radiate pine as grown in South Africa is described as a white to light brown wood, medium hard, specially useful in building construction where strength is important. It is harder, tougher and stronger than the grade of European (Baltic) softwood, red or white, usually imported into South Africa, and no more resinous but rather less easy to nail. It is also valued for boxes and crates, especially where strength and rigidity are needed.

Most of the building timber of radiate pine is in sizes of 1½ inches (3.8 centimeters) by 4½ inches (11 centimeters) or 6 inches (15 centimeters), or 2 x 3 inches (5 x 8 centimeters). When such sizes are cut from log centers, at or near the pith or medulla, some distortion is apt to occur during drying; but with larger sizes such as 1 x 12 inches (2.5 x 30 centimeters) or 1½ x 9 inches (3.8 x 23 centimeters) there are few complaints. Where extra long beams of extra heavy sections are needed, Douglas fir or southern yellow pine from North America is used; the radiate pine plantations are not yet old enough to supply such beams.

Circular saws were almost universal in the earlier days of milling these pine logs but now all the larger State and private mills tend to use Swedish type gang or frame saws; and double log edgers are used on very small logs. The combination gives a high output of accurately sawn boards. The best results are got by drying the lumber in the maximum widths into which it can be cut, and then recutting to 2 x 2 inches (5 x 5 centimeters), 2 x 3 inches (5 x 8 centimeters) and such sizes only after the wood has approached the equilibrium moisture content of some 10 to 15 percent. If green logs are cut at once into 2 x 2 inches or 2 x 3 inches these sizes are apt to distort, because any spiral grain or compression wood is then more free to affect the shape. In wider pieces such abnormal wood is restrained during drying by the normal wood which is likely to be present in wider pieces, even if they have some abnormal wood in a part of their width. The danger of distortion is specially present near the pith, medulla or log center, in the juvenile wood of the first 12 or so years, as has been mentioned earlier.

As the green sapwood often has 100 percent moisture content and is very apt to become blue-stained, it is dipped in a stain preventive such as penta-chlor-phenol unless it can be open-stacked at once, prior to kiln drying, or in areas with a dry climate can be put at once into narrow, well aired stacks, with their lowest layers of lumber raised 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 centimeters) above the ground, for ventilation. Close piling without stickers leads to blue stain and degrade, even if the wood has been dipped.

Government rules enforce preservative treatment of pine for house building in all coastal towns, because of the danger from the flying termite (Cryptotermes) and the house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus). The latter is a great pest in North Germany, Scandinavia and other Baltic countries and has reached South Africa in imported softwood and has done serious damage there. It affects untreated sapwood; but 3 to 15 minutes cold soaking in penta-chlor-phenol or copper naphtenate dissolved in white spirits (alcohol) or paraffin protects pine sapwood completely and permanently for use inside houses, where it is not exposed to rain.

In 1945, the Forest Products Institute began to work out grading rules for pine in co-operation with the Lumber Millers' Associations. By 1948, these rules had been standardized and accepted. They provide for three grades of structural lumber, to be used as it is, without recutting, and three grades of factory lumber, which the user expects to recut into the pieces he may need for a wide variety of uses. With so much very green sapwood as there is in these fast grown pines it is most desirable to fix moisture content limits, and the grading rules do this. The grading applies to seasoned or dry wood, which is an immense advantage to the buyer or consumer, and in the end to the grower -and seller also.

In the structural grades there has to be, and there is, a density clause, specifying the minimum weight of the wood at a known moisture content. This assures adequate strength and prevents the sale of pith or juvenile wood for structural use for which it is too weak and apt to distort. The structural lumber is graded on its poorer face and edge, because strength and not merely appearance is the vital point. The second and third grades are quite suitable for house building, the second being comparable with the 800 pound (363 kilogram) stress grade of the British Standards Institute, included in most of the building codes of the United Kingdom. The South African second grade of structural lumber also compares well with Swedish third class "deal" and North American No. 2 common lumber.

The factory lumber is graded on the better face and edge of each piece, because appearance rather than strength is the critical feature. A main object in introducing these grades was to provide an outlet for pieces rejected for structural use but quite suitable for many other uses, either whole or after recutting. There is no density or weight of wood clause for the factory grades, again because in them the strength is not the critical feature it is in structural lumber. Larger knots and knot clusters are allowed in the factory grades but knot holes and discoloration are more strictly limited, because of their effect on the appearance of the pieces.

The final proof of the success of radiate pine and other fast growing pines in South Africa is that the Forest Department of that country has been empowered to increase its rate of planting greatly, to the present level of 12,000 to 14,000 hectares per year.

New Zealand

Reports on utilization studies of this pine in New Zealand are not fully available in Chile. However, in the pulp and paper field the use of radiate pine has been studied intensively in New Zealand (and Australia). At least one chemical pulp mill is already operating there on this pine, and the building of a very large plant for integrated use of the tree in the North Island of New Zealand, about latitude 38° South, has begun. (This line of latitude falls in Chile between Concepción and Temuco). The site of this Marupara Project is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of the city of Auckland, near Rotorua and south of Tauranga Harbour (Bay of Plenty). The press reports speak of an annual cut of 600,000 tons, on a sustained yield basis, from a planted area of 104,000 hectares (the Kaingaroa State Forest), with an investment of U.S. $40-80 million of New Zealand, Australian and U.K. capital, in pulp and paper mills, lumber mills, a hydroelectric scheme, 40 miles (64 kilometers) of special railway lines linking the forests, mill sites and the coastal railway system, and a deep water wharf for export of the products.

Weight and strength tests of New Zealand P. radiata, lumber growing as fast as 2¾ annual rings per inch were in 1945 reported to be satisfactory in comparison with U.S.A. data for Pinus ponderosa growing at only 19 rings per inch. Indeed, as in South Africa, it is knots and spiral grain that give more trouble in the grading and use of the lumber than rapid growth; and in spite of these defects the pine of New Zealand finds increasingly wide use at home and an export market in Australia.

A useful study of building timbers in New Zealand published in 1950 by the Forest Research Institute contains many references to P. radiata, grown in New Zealand and its satisfactory use in all parts of buildings if properly graded, dried and where necessary treated with preservatives. The standard native wood for houses is or was rimu (Dacrydium cupressimum), a naturally durable wood related to Chilean mañio (Podocarpus spp.). In strength tests, dry radiate pine comes out very close to, but slightly stronger and harder than, dry rimu; and the pine is easier to dry without distortion and to nail when dry. The bulletin points out the importance of drying the pine thoroughly before installing it in buildings, of protecting it from too rapid changes of moisture content (due to weather) by good coatings of a sealing primer and of paint, and of treating it with a wood preservative where the risk from fungi or insects justifies such treatment. It also mentions especially the tendency to distort or warp shown by light weight wood from the pith or heart center of the tree, or near it, as has been found in South Africa.

With the approaching exhaustion of the naturally durable rimu and other such trees native to New Zealand, there is increasing use of P. radiata, treated with preservatives. Creosote is much used where it is suitable, and water soluble salts such as copper sulphate or fluoridephenol with a chromium fixative against leaching out, where a clean, non-staining or paintable surface is required. Even the very cautious authorities which advance money for house building now permit the use of P. radiata, if it has been properly treated with preservatives.

Australia

The P. radiata, plantations of this country are mainly in the State of South Australia. Valuable studies have been made there on the silviculture of the species, specially thinnings; and the wood has been tested for weight and strength at the very active and well-staffed Forest Products Laboratory at Melbourne in the State of Victoria. The trees show a growth pattern changing from 2½ to 3 annual rings per radial inch at 11 years old to 4½ to 5 rings per inch at 26 to 40 years old, very much as in South Africa and Chile, and satisfactory strength.

The range of acceptable uses is remarkable, in spite of the fast growth. It includes ammunition boxes, flooring, house framing and roofing timber, weather boards, joinery, fruit and dairy cases, plywood, match splints, paper, cardboard and wallboard. A South Australian Bulletin of 1950 says:

"In fact, without radiate pine flooring, there would have been no housing program except at a greatly increased cost for imported timber, if this could have been obtained."

Chile

There is already a brisk trade in the lumber of Pinus insigne in Chile. One sees it everywhere in Santiago, in boxes, palisades, concrete shuttering, furniture, panelling and many other products. It is relatively cheap and easy to dry and use, compared with the native hardwoods which grow further from the capital, are heavier, harder, slower to dry and more apt to distort, on the whole, and are dearer. Use of radiate pine for pulp and paper is already being made by the leading pulp and paper firm of Chile, Cía de Papeles y Cartones, and large schemes for other companies to make pulp and paper of this pine are afoot. The prospects are bright, but the following considerations should be borne in mind:

1. Co-operation is extremely desirable between the large and small owners of pine stumpage or plantations, the manufacturers and the consumers, so that the whole industry of growing, reaping, manufacturing and use of the finished products may thrive on a continuing basis.

2. The rich technical experience on pulp, paper and other such products from resinous pine, available in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and the U.S.A. should be used as fully as possible.

3. The possibilities for integrated uses of the pine deserve attention, that is to say, the development of plants which can put different sizes and grades of the logs and their leavings to different uses, such as lumber, pulp and paper, fiberboard, etc. The great Marupara project now under way in New Zealand is an example: its progress should be watched by Chile.

4. Good markets for thinnings are specially desirable and need organizing and developing. Wood preservation is a vital help in finding uses for posts and poles from thinnings. So, too, can be the special machinery developed in Scandinavia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elsewhere for sawing very small diameter logs into useful lumber.

As to sawn lumber, many of the main points have already been discussed. These and some others are summarized below:

1. The pine should be cut to the sizes really needed by the chief markets, as far as possible. At present, much radiate pine is cut in too short lengths. One reason given is that the extraction roads have too sharp curves to allow longer logs to be brought out; another that the equipment will not handle longer logs. Roads and equipment should be altered as soon as is possible and economic.

2. Blue stain should be avoided by simple and cheap dipping in anti-stain liquids, and the pine should never be close piled, even after dipping.

3. Lumber should be adequately dried, in the open air or kilns, a relatively quick and easy matter, before it is railed or sold to the consumers. The smaller sizes should not be cut straight from the green logs, if that can be avoided, but recut from wider sizes after these have dried to approximate equilibrium with the air around them.

4. Good grading is vital to adequate prices, satisfied consumers and repeat orders. Trial grading rules are being tested in practice. If found satisfactory they should be adopted; and, if found unsatisfactory, they should be modified until they are acceptable.

5. Preservative treatment is essential to certain, but not all, successful uses of radiata, pine in Chile. This has been found to be the case with the same timber in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. The large amount of sapwood in fast grown pine makes such treatment inevitable for many uses. Fortunately, the wood is permeable and easy to treat. Once treated adequately it is certain to give an excellent life, even in the ground and where termites and other pests occur.

Certain factors have come to be considered advantageous in the growing of the tree in Chile for uses other than pulp and paper, that is to say primarily for sawn lumber, with posts and poles as subsidiary products, chiefly from thinnings. These are as follows:

1. The pine should be grown to some 30 years of age before clear felling the main crop. If it is felled before it is 30 years old, the lumber output is bound to be of a lower average grade, with more knots and a greater proportion of juvenile or pith-wood, weaker and more apt to distort than older adult wood.

2. Thinning should be adequate and timely to get a larger average diameter in the final crop trees sooner, and to reap intermediate returns from the thinnings as posts, poles and small size lumber fit at least for boxes.

3. An early start should be made to the pruning of the lower side branches of all or a selected proportion of the trees expected to form the final crop, if labor is available and cheap enough. This can raise the average grade and value of the lumber greatly, if the pruned knotty core is small and an adequate thickness of clear wood without any knots forms around the pruned core before the tree is felled. Unless it is early enough, pruning is a waste of money and labor.

The recent survey of this species by the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción shows that there are estimated to be some 173,000 hectares of plantations of various age classes. The first essential is clearly to protect these very valuable forests against fire and possible epidemic attacks by insects and fungi. Fire protection is outside the scope of this paper but is a well-known subject on which ample literature and advice are available from other countries. It is simply a matter of providing the necessary money and staff to insure adequately against heavy losses by fire.

There are grave risks from insects and fungi when very large areas of a single tree species are grown pure. Attention is therefore invited to the following warnings on this vital matter:

1. The article by Professor J. S. Boyce of Yale University, U.S.A., "Introduction of exotic trees, dangers from diseases and insect pests", in Unasylva March 1954 (Vol. VIII, No. 1). He cites a deplorably long list of troubles and failures with exotics in Europe and elsewhere, but agrees that so far radiate pine in the Southern Hemisphere has been a success. He says, however, that "such extensive planting of pure stands is extremely risky", although the short rotation on which it is grown, and other factors, make the financial risk less than it would be with a longer rotation such as 50 years.

2. South Africa has roughly the same area of exotic pine plantations as Chile but no one species makes up more than 26 percent of the total area. The risk is spread over eight species, and radiate pine is only 10 percent of the total pine crop.

3. New Zealand, like Chile, has very great areas of pure radiate pine. The risks of epidemic disease there on account of these pure crops are regarded very seriously by all concerned who know the facts and past experience elsewhere. Rightly, the risks have not been allowed to stop large capital investment in New Zealand's exotic pine for pulp and lumber; but it is to be expected that future planting there will spread the risk to a greater extent by using a number of species, as in South Africa.

It is clear that, in future, Chile should spread, and so reduce the risk of disease in her pine plantations, by using other fast growing conifers as well as radiate pine. Two further points on future planting should be made, apart from the basic one, that planting must keep pace with felling in order to maintain supplies or achieve what foresters call a sustained yield. Firstly, the health and fertility of the soil must be safeguarded, especially if crops are being grown pure on a short rotation and clear felled. The painful experience of German foresters with spruce (Picea abies or excelsa) in Saxony should not be forgotten. There are techniques by which trouble can be avoided if the soil is studied and tended properly. Secondly, it will pay handsomely if the seed for future planting is sought as much as possible from superior types or races of radiate pine, particularly as to a minimum of spiral grain, and as to a light or fine system of side-branching, avoiding the types of trees with coarse side-branches which give rise to large and numerous knots in the lumber.

This paper has not dealt in any detail with the silviculture of P. radiata or its very important value for paper pulp. It should be mentioned, however, that the species is very easy to grow and to regenerate, either artificially or naturally. Also, as one would expect from its affinity with the southern yellow pines or pitch pines of the southeast U.S.A., the species is proving a most valuable material for paper pulp, both mechanical and chemical. The great development of the pulp and paper industry, based on similar pines, in southern U.S.A. in the last 20 or so years; the great mills for pulp and paper making now operating or being built in New Zealand; and the successful use of the tree by the pulp and paper industry in Chile itself point to a bright future and great developments in this field.

London calling

As a contribution towards publicizing the Fourth World Forestry Congress, the General Overseas Service of the British Broadcasting corporation has broadcast a series of seven talks under the title "Root and Branch" in which a number of forestry experts tell the story of the world's forests and of what they mean to man.

The series was introduced by Jack Westoby, an economist on the staff of the. Forestry Division, FAO, who discussed the wide variety of uses to which timber is put and the astonishing number of products which can be made from wood. He referred to man's abuse of forests and to the acknowledgement of all foresters today that such abuse must end.

Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse, the Deputy Director-General of the British Forestry Commission, took up the story by giving an answer to the deceptively simple question: "Has the world enough trees?". Cut to one word only, his answer is "No" but it is a qualified negative. The world as a whole may have enough trees, but they are unevenly distributed so that many countries are very badly off; and to agriculturists, for example, it is the vital role of trees in protecting the surface of the earth which makes a reasonably even forest cover so desirable.

The next four speakers considered these and similar problems in relation to a particular region of the world. Egon Glesinger, Deputy Director of the Forestry Division of FAO and Director of the Timber Division of the Economic Commission for Europe' discussed the situation in Europe, where forest management standards are fairly high but where the demands on timber are often more than the forests can bear.

M. A. Huberman, Chief of the Silviculture Section of the Forestry Division of FAO, took as his subject forestry in the New World and in Latin America, which between them produce almost every known variety of timber.

Sir Herbert Howard, secretary of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux and formerly Inspector-General of Forests for India, discussed some of the problems in Asia and the Near East, and Professor H. G. Champion, of the Oxford University Department of Forestry dealt with forestry practices in Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Finally, Dr. P. V. Cardon, Director-General of FAO, summed up the series with a talk on the ideas and ideals behind the Congress taking place at Dehra Dun.