General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
Reviews
The items appearing here are condensed selections 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. The Editor will be glad to receive direct from readers authenticated items of interest and of news value for this part of the review.
FINLAND
· Annual Forest Weeks have been organized in Helsinki by the Finnish Forest Association (Suomen metsanhoitoyhdistys) in conjunction with specialized forest associations, most of which have come into existence during the past two decades. The meetings were first organized in 1925, they usually take place either at the end of March or in the early part of April; during the past 20 years there have been 18 meetings, none were held in 1940 or in 1942 on account of the war.
The purpose of these meetings is to exchange information and to help establish contacts between members, with the object of avoiding the dangers of over-specialization. During these Forest Weeks there is one general, joint, session as well as annual meetings of the various associations. A large number of papers have been presented, 530 to date, and 77 topics have been discussed. Of the papers, 63 have been presented by foresters or scientists, 289 by various technical experts, and 20 by visitors.
The results of scientific research have been published, and the consultations and discussions during the Forest weeks have had considerable influence on forest and industry management. The most important discussion group is always the one dealing with wages, employment, and working conditions of foresters. Through the presence of nonprofessional observers and of the press the discussions have received wide publicity. This has led to a more general interest in forestry and allied sciences. Several associations have held jubilees and festivals during the Forest Weeks, and through these, the activities of specific associations have become more widely known. Representatives of different interests, and of various professions, having become better acquainted, now work together more confidently. Swedish foresters are regularly invited to the Finnish Forest Weeks, while Finnish foresters attend the Swedish Forest Days, both groups learning of each other's forest problems. Altogether, the Forest Weeks serve a valuable purpose for forestry and timber sciences. They also constitute an asset for forest management in the whole of Finland.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A bibliography on the Economics of Forestry, covering English language publications in the United States and Canada, from 1940 through 1947, has recently been published, bringing up to date earlier bibliographies in the same field. About 3,800 items were retained out of about 10,000 examined, covering publications on value and price aspects of: (1) forest and forest-land use and tenure, (2) forest management, for timber, water, forage, wildlife, recreation, or other forest products; (3) industry based directly on forest products, (4) marketing of forest products,; and (5) consumption of forest products. Borderline references and those dealing with economies in general were omitted. The bibliography is arranged in chapters dealing with, (1) forest economy in general; (2) land management; (3) forest management; (4) management of forest-product harvesting and processing; and (5) the meeting of supply and demand. Thus, from the general aspects through successive stages of economic activity, from the forest to the consumer of forest products, each chapter is subdivided, dealing specifically with regional conditions where that is appropriate. The bibliography contains a complete subject and author index. Brief annotations are given for references for which the title itself does not give reasonably good specifications of the content. This is one of the accomplishments of the joint undertaking of the Society of American Foresters and the Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry Foundation in the general project concerned with scope and method of research in the economics of forestry.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A soil scientist at the California Forest and Range Experiment Station has patented a new instrument for measuring water in the soil. The instrument can be used in studying water use by plants, in measuring the direction and rate of water movement in the soil, and for the detection of freezing and melting of soil water. It is based on electrical resistance. Research on the instrument was started in 1936. About 3,000 of the units are now in use in different parts of the United States and in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Hawaii, Israel and Puerto Rico.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· The year 1950 marked the fortieth anniversary of the first Russian Control and Experimental Seed Station established in St. Petersburg, now Leningrad. The tasks set before the Station were testing seed of forest trees, determining the effect of the source of seed upon resulting tree growth, studying the effect of weather, site, and other external factors on the occurrence of good seed years. At the same time, it was engaged in developing new, more rapid, and more precise methods of seed testing in general. In the course of these forty years, the Station has made more than 36,000 analyses of seed samples and has accumulated an enormous amount of experimental material. The results of these investigations are now being brought to light. To mention only a few of the findings: the length of the period during which germination takes place (total germination) is in direct ratio to the quality of the seed; the lower the germination percent, the longer the dormancy period. Oak acorns, for example, having a germination percent of between 7 and 15, begin to sprout under laboratory conditions only on the fortieth or fiftieth day; with a germination percent of 90, they sprout on the twentieth day. Changes in temperature, even within the limits of 5° C., act as a stimulant in hastening germination and shortening the dormancy period. Light is an essential factor in germination. The most favorable light condition for seed germination is diffused daylight. Deficiency of light has an unfavorable effect, especially on poor quality seed. Seed of the same species, but coming from different regions, varies in germinating energy and capacity. Observations of 3,500 different seed samples over a period of 15 years revealed a definite correlation between the germinating energy displayed during the first few days (3-5 or 7 days) and the final or total germinating capacity of the seed. This makes it possible to express the actual final germinating capacity with 10 percent accuracy and offers a quick method of seed testing. On the basis of large scale experiments, it has been determined that for practical purposes a sample should consist of not less than 500 seeds, and for scientific purposes, 800 seeds. It has been found possible to shorten the period of total germination in the ease of pine, spruce, larch, and birch to 15 days. Observations on the amount of seed produced in different years has led to the adoption of six classes of seed crops into which crops can be grouped according to size. Experiments on raising the seed-bearing capacity of trees by cutting the roots or branches, girdling and similar methods used in horticulture, did not show any positive results. However, thinning the stands intended for seed production has been found the best and most practical method of raising the yields of forest seed, especially if carried out when the stands are still young.
CANADA
· The British Columbia Forest Service has issued Technical Publication T. 32, The Development of the Spruce-Balsam Type, which sets forth the conclusions derived from experiments and measurements carried out over the past 30 years on 27 permanent sample plots set aside in the Aleza Lake experimental forest for the study of a typical, mixed spruce-balsam forest (Picea glauca - Abies lasiocarpa), which covers 4 million acres (1,6 million ha.) in British Columbia and constitutes one of the main lumber reserves of that province. The study concerns two types of stands: (1) virgin stands; and (2) culled stands where there is a more or less heavy residual stand with good advance regeneration in which balsam fir predominates in the ratio of 4 firs to 1 spruce.
Measurements of the gross and net increment and of the rate of mortality in the virgin stands show, as might be expected, that the average annual volume of dead wood closely approximates the average annual gross increment, which amounts to approximately 90 cubic feet per acre (6.3 m³ per ha.). However, a more detailed analysis indicates that the gap between the net and gross increment is due mainly to the presence of balsam fir whose rate of mortality exceeds its gross increment in all trees in the 9 inch (23 cm.) or over diameter-class, while the annual gross increment of spruce becomes incorporated in the stand to an extent varying between 10 and 100 percent, depending on the diameter categories.
Thirty years of observation of the second-growth stands which are released after logging, in which all spruces over 11 inches (28 cm.) in diameter and all firs over 9 inches (23 cm.) are removed, confirms the foregoing results. The mortality rate during the first seven years following logging was not actually measured, but was no doubt low; the rate was slightly higher for spruce and much higher for fir during the following 13 years and then fell off considerably, although it remains much higher for fir than for spruce even from the twentieth to the thirtieth year.
The average annual periodic increment which fell to 42.7 cubic feet per acre (3 m³ per ha.) during the first seven years, later increased to 91.9 cubic feet per acre (6,4 m³ per ha.) during the subsequent 12 years and finally jumped to 151.1 cubic feet (10.6 m³) from the nineteenth to the twenty-ninth year.
An analysis of this increment indicates that it is concentrated mainly in the advance regrowth standing before logging, or, more accurately, in spruce between 1 inch (2,5 cm.) and 11 inches (28 cm.) in diameter and balsam between 1 inch and 8 inches (20 cm.) in diameter left standing after logging. This indicates the importance of leaving the residual stand in as good a condition as possible. Although such a stand has a larger proportion of fir (the less valuable species), the second cutting, approximately 40 years after the first will nevertheless yield proportionally a much higher quantity of spruce, because of the higher rate of mortality of fir.
The authors conclude that the great risk involved in retaining spruce over 12 inches (30 cm.) in diameter following logging and the entirely disproportionate danger involved in the retention of firs over 9 inches (23 cm.) in diameter entirely justifies modern practice in virgin forests of felling all large-diameter trees. Even if a comparatively short rotation period were allowed, other felling methods would prove to be less satisfactory. By felling all firs over 9 inches (23 cm.) in diameter and all spruce over 13 inches (33 cm.) a residual stand will be left which can attain full growth within 50 to 70 years. At the end of this period, the age and diameter distribution in the stand will permit the application of silvicultural methods for the complete utilization of all the wood growth. This conclusion may surprise foresters accustomed to intensive silviculture which calls not only for the adoption of very brief rotation periods, but also for the gathering of windfallen trees so that the volume of wood extracted from a forest could be practically equal to the gross wood increment. The problems arising in this instance are entirely different first, because the rotation period is necessarily rather long and, secondly, because it is necessary to transform virgin forest into managed forest. Under these circumstances, the solution found most expedient in the light of past experience is also doubtless the best.
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
· Provision of fodder reserves for the 8 months' dry season is ordinarily accomplished by plowing the natural veld and growing drought-resistant annual crops. This practice normally leads to severe erosion and thus the suitability of native leguminous pod-bearing trees for production of fodder is of interest. There are at least five species of acacia and, in addition, Dichrostachys glomerata and Piliostigma thonningii which produce large crops of edible seeds. The pods and spongy tissue of all these species are digested but the hard-coated seeds are not, and thus when the pods are: eaten by cattle the seeds are widely distributed. All these species protect the soil against erosion. The seeding value of the pods is approximately equivalent to British meadow hay as a source of digestible proteins and is superior as a source of energy on a dry weight basis. The pods are superior to good veld hay and greatly superior to ordinary veld hay. Knowledge of the yields of pods is fragmentary, but it is probable that from 4 to 8 large trees per acre (10 to 20 per ha.) of three acacia species, and from 10 to 20 of the smaller trees per acre (25 to 50 per ha.) of the other species, would produce a yield of pods of from 1,000 to 2,000 lb. (1,120.8 kg. to 2,241.6 kg. per ha.) per acre for the first group and from 250 to 500 lb. per acre (280.2 kg. to 560.4 kg. per ha.) for the second, and would not interfere with yields of grass on the same area. Average yield of veld hay is only between 500 and 1,000 lb. (560.4 kg. to 1,120.8 kg. per ha.) per acre. Propagation can often be accomplished by selective clearing and thinning of dense brush in which the desired species occur and, in some eases, by planting. It thus appears that greater attention might well be directed to the propagation of these forage-yielding tree species in addition to plowland crops, because they not only constitute a source of forage but contribute to soil conservation as well.
UNITED KINGDOM
· In the British Isles the most important factor in determining the altitude to which commercial cultivation can be extended is that of exposure, the effects of which are most serious on the western seaboard and in such areas as Northern Ireland. Of the coniferous species so far given extensive tests on exposed high altitude sites, the most satisfactory has proved to be Abies procera (A. nobilis). This has proved particularly effective when grown in pure stands planted at a spacing of 6 by 6 feet (1.83 by 1.83 m.). Of the other species tested, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is satisfactory where soil moisture is suitable, but not on dry soils. The larches are unsuitable, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) suffers defoliation and fails, and each variety of Pinus contorta has disadvantages. Scarcity of seed has resulted in planting the Abies procera mostly in mixed stands, but if supplies of seed can be increased, more extensive planting in pure stands on high exposed dry sites is desirable.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· A comparison of the efficiency of two methods of logging has shown interesting results: one method, widely used within recent years, is to haul the entire length of the trunk to a clearing (loading yard) where it is sawn into logs and other forest products. Before hauling, the trunk is cleaned of all branches. The other is a development of this method, and has been tried out with success on logging operations in forests of the Leningrad province. The whole tree, branches and all is hauled as felled to a clearing where the branches are sawn off and the trunk cut up into log lengths according to the quality and use to which they are to be put. The hauling is done by power windlasses. When the tree moves with the top forward and elevated it is seldom caught on stumps or roots. This enables almost twice the number of round hauls to be made and does away with the need for some workers to follow the loads, as is usually the ease when the whole trunks are hauled. The latter method gave 16 percent better results than the former (54 m³ per day against 47 m³). Other advantages were found to be: (1) Fewer men were required to saw off and collect the branches. When the branches were removed at the felling site 8 workers were required, in the loading yard 5 workers did the fob or 1.5 times less. (2) The efficiency of the workers increased.. With fires burning continuously, the unwanted branches were more quickly disposed of (10.8 m³ per man-day in the loading yard and 5.9. m³ at felling sites). (3) The quality of the work improved. The branches were cut cleaner and closer to the bark. The logs were not charred as is often the ease when the slash is burned before the logs are removed. Greater mechanization was possible. (4) Concentrating the side branches in one place meant that they could be utilized for fuel and for the chemical industry, at the loading yard there were railroad transportation facilities. (5) Conditions of work were less hazardous.
CANADA
· In eastern Canada the imported European pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer) is a major pest for which natural means of control are known It has severely damaged several hundred square miles of pine plantations and is spreading rapidly. The Division of Entomology has imported and tested a virus found in Europe which offers great chance of providing effective control. The virus is first obtained from dead larvae, then is used to infect larvae at the Division's laboratoires. When a large supply of dead larvae has been thus obtained, they are ground and the powder is mixed with water. This liquid, when sprayed on infested plots, has given a high degree of control. Apparently one gallon (3,781.) of suspension is sufficient to spray one acre of pine woods from the air, and this can be done at a fraction of the cost of chemical spraying.
UNITED KINGDOM
· A survey of the fires in State forests in England, Scotland, and Wales shows that, during the past 20 years, there have been altogether 13,500 fires which have burned over 26,000 acres (10.522,2 ha.) of planted area, causing the loss of over £.550,000 and necessitating an expenditure on protection of £. 1,350,000. Carelessness of the general public in smoking and in the use of picnic fires has been a major cause, and sparks from railway engines are also an important factor. About 75 percent of the fires occurred between 11 A. M. and 5 P. M. and about 50 percent between 1 P. M. and 4 P. M. About two-thirds of the fires occurred in March, April and May. The number of fires which occurred during the same period in private woodlands is not known but has certainly been large. A primary conclusion of the study is that continued and greater efforts are necessary to obtain a careful use of fire on the part of the general public.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Fire Control Notes, published quarterly by the United States Forest Service, provides concise reports on significant work under way and on experience gained on federal, state and privately protected forest lands. In a recent issue there are the following:
(1) The 1949 fires and trends of fire currents in the northeast, covering both state protected and national forest lands: a method has been developed whereby risk or probability of fires and flammability are expressed as a burning index and are measured separately as to their effect on the number of fires which occur. Risk is controllable by prevention measures, whereas flammability depends on weather conditions. In 1949 the cumulative burning index indicated that more fires could have been expected than in any other previous year since such measurements began. However, the number of fires was substantially less than expected, due to the downward trend in the ratio of risk. This points to more effective fire prevention. (2) The new forest fire protection program in Maine, a north eastern state, is a great improvement over the old and was introduced following the disastrous fires in 1947 Its main features are improved coordination through a measure of state control in organized towns, appointment by the state of town forest fire wardens, improved methods of paying cost of fire control through state participation, stronger measures for slash and brush disposal, and improved control over fire-using machinery in the woods. In addition, the warden service has been increased, more equipment obtained, and an improved statewide radio communication network has been set up. (3) In Texas a centralized radio dispatching system has been set up under which a single dispatcher will handle an entire district containing several counties, an improvement over the former system of dispatching by individual counties. This has made possible the sale of over 14,000 miles (22.526 km.) of telephone line no longer needed. Moreover, the new system will result in more effective use of facilities within the districts than heretofore. In two of the districts directional antennae are used because of peculiar radio communication problems. (4) In a Nevada national forest, a 2,000 acre (809.4 ha.) fire was suppressed by a small horse-mounted fire crew at a cost estimated at no more than one-tenth that of a foot crew. The horse-mounted crew avoided fatigue, was able to reach danger spots rapidly, and reduced the time lost going between camp and fire line. (5) During a California fire of large size and long duration, exhausted crews were given a chance to rest and clean up in a rest camp established on a public camp ground removed from the noise and disturbance of the main fire camps, after which they returned to the fire as effective combat forces. (6) Several new developments in equipment are reported on, including: (a) a tractor-tanker developed by the Department of Conservation of the state of Michigan, (b) a new hose roller developed in a national forest in Idaho; (c) a ease for crosscut saws developed in a national forest in the southwest; (d) a new belt-type first-aid kit developed in a national forest in Wyoming; (e) a fire finder for use on lookout towers developed by the Department of Conservation state of Minnesota, (f) a portable collapsible fire table developed by the Forest Service in the Intermountain region; (g) a method of designating map locations so that they may be accurately identified from telephone messages developed by the Forest Service, (h) a firefog device which, when used in conjunction with flame throwers, makes it possible to burn safely inflammable material along railroad rights of way developed by the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Forest Service and (i) a cheap and readily assembled anemometer mast which may be used when measurements of wind velocities up to 30 feet (9,144 m.) above ground are required, developed by the Forest Service, in the southeast. (7) The firebreaks in and around the Nebraska National Forest have been maintained for 40 years, since, without them, the planted forest could not survive. Over 650 miles (1.045,85 km.) are maintained by disking and burning to protect against fires originating both inside and outside the forest. Inside, the breaks divide the forest into areas no more than a mile square. (8) An annotated bibliography of recent significant publications in the field of forest fire control is given.
It is significant than the reported advances come from so wide a range of units and organizations and cover so many phases of the whole forest fire problem.
CANADA
· Within the past ten years the manufacture of hardwood plywood has become an important wood industry in eastern Canada. Plywood is used largely in the furniture industry and this market might be greatly increased as a larger and more assured supply of plywood panels becomes available. Since plywood panels may be small, bolts as short as 2 feet (0,6096 m) can be used. It is thus estimated that at least 5 percent of the 10 million cords (21.200.000 m³) of fuel wood cut annually could be selected for use as veneer bolts. This amount would produce 200 million board feet 906.000 m³ (1.000 b. ft. = 4,53 m³) of bolts which could be made into 600 million square feet (65.740.000 m³) of plywood. Although these amounts are greatly in excess of present or immediate prospective markets, it is evident that an excellent opportunity for expanding this use of hardwood exists.
MALAYA
· Research laboratories are being built at Kepong, Selangor, for experimenting with Malayan woods in the production of paper. The laboratories, which are being built under a grant from the Colonial Welfare and Development Fund, should be completed by July 1951. Negotiations are going ahead for equipment from the United Kingdom, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies has been requested to appoint a wood chemist. The use of Malayan secondary hard woods for pulp-making has been talked about for many years, but this is the first attempt to carry out practical experiments.
POLAND
· Before the war Poland had à fairly well developed pulp and paper industry, but at tile close of the war the industry was in utter collapse. Many of the plants were destroyed, and those which remained had had their equipment removed, or lacked raw materials with which to operate them. In 1945 the government took over 132 pulp and paper plants, but at first was only able to start up 3 paper plants, 1 cardboard and 1 pulp factory. By the end of 1945, however, 23 paper making plants, 11 cardboard, 18 pulpwood and 3 cellulose factories were in operation. By 1949 the Central Bureau of the Pulp and Paper Industry was operating 92 plants and the rest were in the process of reconstruction. The Central Bureau is situated in Lodz where it also has a laboratory for carrying out experiments in pulp and paper making. By 1947 the industry had resumed its export trade at first chiefly of newsprint and cardboard, but by 1948 exports had been extended to a variety of products, Export trade is carried on exclusively through a central organization in Warsaw known as Pap-export. Some 32,000 workers are engaged in the pulp and paper industry and efforts are being made to raise their technical level. In the course of the six years beginning with 1950, the industry plans to double the volume of production and increase its value two and a half times. During the first two years, the aim is to improve and raise the productive capacities of existing plants, but in 1952 there is to be an expansion of the industry through modernization and the construction of new plants. At present the pulp and paper industry is centered in the southwestern part of the country, but in the next six years it is to be distributed more uniformly so as to be nearer the centers of consumption and sources of raw materials.
In the forests of Poland there is five times more pine than spruce. Since it is expected that the amount of pulpwood needed by the industry will be trebled, seven times the present amount of pine will need to be cut; this in turn will mean increased use of the sulphate process. It is intended to manufacture all the new pulp and paper making machinery in Poland The industry issues two monthly magazines, both published in Lodz, devoted to the problems of pulp and paper making; one is of a technical nature, the other is of a more popular character intended for workers engaged in the industry.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The only domestic source of vegetable tannin so far intensively exploited is the chestnut (Castanea dentata); in fact, all the material comes from dead trees, the supply of which should last only another 10 to 15 years and is irreplaceable. On the other hand, South American quebracho forests (Schinopsis Lorentzii), if not systematically depleted, become more and more difficult to exploit because the easily accessible stands have been intensively cut, In addition, the South American leather industry is expanding rapidly and will progressively consume greater quantities of tannin; the Brazilian tannin industry has recently established vast plantations of Australian wattle for its own use. In 1939, 75 percent of the tanning materials used in the United States was imported quebracho and domestic chestnut wood. During the war, owing to restrictions on imports of some tanning materials, such as those obtained by processing mangrove bark (Rhizophora mangle) or from forests of myrobalans (Terminalia chebula and Terminalia bellerica), the United States had to promote the extraction of tannin from the bark of the chestnut oak (Quercus montana), Tsuga canadensis, and other materials of vegetable origin. Thus the tannin supply is creating a serious problem and research is therefore directed along two lines. The first aims at the increased utilization of the California tanbark oak (Lithocarpus densiflora), a large tree growing over an area of some 3 million acres (1.200.000 ha.) in California and certain parts of Oregon. There are 60 trees per acre on the average, each about 80 feet (24 m.) tall by 24 inches (60 cm.) in diameter. After felling, new trees sprout quickly from the live stumps and a cut is possible every 20 years. The bark contains 18 to 29 percent of tannin. It has been estimated that a tannin extractor plant, the minimum production of which should amount to 5,000 tons of pure tanni if run on an economically sound basis, would require an annual cut of 5,000 acres (2,000 ha.). This wood is also satisfactory for the manufacture of either high-grade printing or superior wrapping paper, and wallboard. A pulp mill connected the tannin extractor plant could produce 200 tons of paper pulp daily, which is economically possible. The second possibility is large-scale planting of wattle, particularly Acacia decurrens, vars., normalis and mollis, the latter often classified as a separate species, Acacia mollissima. These two varieties are very similar, both botanically and in their cultivation requirements. In California, mature specimens reach 100 ft. (30 m.) height and 18 inches (45 cm.) in diameter. They thrive on poor soils, provided the soils are well drained and porous. Ordinarily, 16 inches (40 cm.) of rainfall annually are required, but some are reported to prosper even without irrigation on as little as 8 inches (20 cm.) of rainfall. The plantations do not require any special care and the trees mature in 10 to 13 years. It has been estimated that the net annual financial return per hectare could be $120, $225, taking into consideration the value of both the bark and the wood which can be used in the manufacture of pulp. A project of this type would therefore be financially highly profitable.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The use of wood waste as a soil conditioner is receiving increased attention both in research and in actual practice, and recently experiments have been begun in the Northern Rochy Mountain area where at least half a million tons (m.t. 453,600) of sawdust is available annually. Indications in the Northern Rocky Mountain region are that, when the proper carbon-nitrogen ratio is attained, the results on farmland deficiency in humus are favourable. One effective way to use sawdust and shavings and to increase their value as soil conditioners is as bedding material for animals since the wood material is usually cheap, has a high capacity to hold liquid, and is easy to handle. In using such material on crop lands it is often necessary to add a nitrogen fertilizer such as ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulphate at the rate of 75 lb. per ton (37.5 kg per m. ton) of bedding material to create the proper nitrogen-carbon balance. Wood chips may also be used if sufficiently small, and on many farms chips can be produced from wood otherwise wasted by the use of available portable chippers. Cost of such wood chip bedding is about one-third that of straw. Although further research and experience are needed, it is evident that there is great scope for the utilization of sawmill and wood waste in the necessary task of rebuilding humus content of many long-used agricultural soils.
Crown Zellerbach Corporation is building a large modern development laboratory for its central research department at Camas, Washington State. It will bring together in a complete experimental paper mill all the equipment necessary to convert wood to paper products and will house all the laboratory work that begins outside the research laboratory. The most important single piece of equipment will be an experimental paper machine, trimming 24 inches (60.96 cm.), equipped with flexible drive to permit wide variation of speed, which will test mill stock or pulp made in a large experimental digester. The laboratory will be staffed by present technical employees and additional specialized staff, and will be in operation by the end of 1951. The technical engineering staff of the Corporation will serve the new laboratory.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· The turpentine industry has now been coordinated with the lumber industry under the Ministry of Forestry. The resin is obtained by tapping Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) stands for a short period before they are cut for timber. The problem now confronting foresters is how long this period should be; whether light frequent tapping should be continued over a long period, for example for 25 to 30 years, as is successfully practised in southern France on the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), or whether the trees should be tapped intensively over a short period prior to being cut for timber. The results of several investigations indicate that the prolonged French method of tapping is not practical for the Scots pine in the U.S.S.R. because of biological differences. The maritime pine grows faster and therefore the sears caused by turpentining heal over quickly without damaging the tree too much for its eventual use as lumber. In the ease of the Scots pine, the incisions do not heal rapidly and if tapped for a long period it becomes heavily scarred and therefore of less value as lumber, on the other hand, it can stand intensive tapping without loss of vitality. It has been proved that the accumulations of starch in the tree do not diminish, but remain the same whether it is tapped up to 80 percent or 30 percent of its potential capacity. It has also been found that the total amount of resin obtained from the tree over the entire period of tapping is about the same for both prolonged and short-term tapping. The cost of producing the same amount of resin, however, rises sharply with the period over which the tree is tapped, often by as much as 25 percent. The general conclusion is that the most practical and effective method of turpentining this species in the U.S.S.R. is to tap the trees for a period not longer than 15 years, allowing one year's rest after the first 10 years.
BULGARIA
· Attempts are being made to enlarge the forested area by new plantations. In 1949, the area under forests is said to have increased by 46,200 ha. In the Dobrudja, the driest part of the country, over 350 km. of forest shelter belts have been planted. In 1950, 36,500 ha. were to be planted to forests and improvement work done on 40,000 ha. of forests. The Council of Ministers has approved the preparation of a 15-year reforestation plan.
CANADA
· The Forest Act of 1948 of British Columbia contains, in Section 19, a provision which deserves special attention. Under this law, any farm owner who does not have on his land wood lots capable of producing 10,000 cu. ft. (283 m³) of wood per year may apply for a license to use a parcel of Crown forest land large enough to bring his total annual cut of lumber to this amount. Along the coast, on the basis of average forest productivity, each farmer can use a maximum of about 100 acres (40.47 ha.), and inland, about 250 acres (101.175 ha.). In no ease, may the total area exceed 650 acres (263.055 ha.). Such wood lot licenses are granted with the proviso that:
(1) The land shall be kept stocked with forest growth of saleable commercial species, which means that it is the responsibility of the farmer to see that the area is kept productive, the Forest Service, supplying the necessary seedlings if he has to resort to replanting in order to obtain this result.(2) "The forests shall be managed for perpetual yield of an annual or periodical harvest of wood."
(3) "The allowable cut shall be harvested annually or periodically."
Before a wood lot license can be granted, a very simple management plan must be prepared, either by the farmer, his agent or the Forest Service, In the event that the Forest Service, is requested to prepare such a management plan, the farmer must aid in collecting the necessary field data. All forests for which a wood lot license has been granted are tax exempt. At felling time, the farmer is required to pay a royalty per unit of wood products, extracted, and a similar royalty is also payable on forest products, from private Crown-granted forests since 7 April 1887, and, of course, the stumpage is assessed by the Forest Service, The wood lot license automatically terminates upon the death of the licensee or if the farm is sold, unless the new owner expresses a desire to use the same license.
CHINA
· Sinkiang is one of the largest provinces of China and is located in the western part of the country. The most important forests of Sinkiang are concentrated along the eastern slopes of the Tianshan mountain range. The area of these virgin forests is estimated at 3,478,000 mus (217,375 ha.). They extend from Kuchar to Kulja. The mountains of Tarbagatai, Kunlun and Altai are also covered with dense forests. The northern slopes of the Tianshan mountains as far as Kulja are timbered. South of Khami and Barkul the forests consists of red pine. The mountains of Bogdaola are covered with white pine forests.
· It is reported that the timber industry of Inner Mongolia, one of the important forest regions of China, has been revived. The forests cover an area of more than 7,000,000 ha. In the past these forests have been recklessly exploited.
FINLAND
· For a longtime the common from of cooperation among Finnish forest owners has been through local associations, for the main purpose of employing permanent forest foremen, generally persons who have undergone two-years of forestry training. The foreman's duty is to advise association members, to assist in silvicultural work and in logging and to help members sell their forest products. The forest area of these associations is on the average from 20,000 to 25,000 acres (8,094 to 10,117.5 ha.). AU of them receive government subsidies, but for the most part are financed by the members of the association. In order that all forest owners may benefit from the associations and to ensure adequate financing, the Finnish Parliament, in October 1940, passed a bill compelling all forest owners belonging to an association, except those whose forests have an annual yield of less than 20 m³ to pay an annual forest charge. This amounts to two to six percent of the calculated net return from forests used as a basis for income taxation. Forest owners who employ a permanent forest expert pay only a quarter of the usual charge. The contributions paid by each district are used by the association of forest owners for that district. Though forest owners are not compelled to join an association, it is hoped that through this scheme enough money will be collected to employ sufficient trained forest foremen for all forest ranges in Finland.
FRENCH WEST INDIES
· Martinique and Guadeloupe acquired the status of French departments in January 1948 and their forest services have therefore been organized on the same pattern as the forest service of Metropolitan France with a conservator in charge. The total forested area of these two islands and their dependencies amounts to 110,000 hectares representing 38 percent of the total surface. However, in the ease of Guadeloupe, this figure includes about 47,000 hectares of very degraded copsewood, valueless dry forests and open woods or orchards which are privately owned. French forestry legislation has been in forge since 1 January 1948, with minor modifications, and large-scale surveys of state-owned forests have been undertaken.
In Martinique, forests are located on very hilly watersheds. Because of their protective role, extreme caution must be exercised in cutting. Difficulty of access, lack of sawing machinery and the primitive felling methods used, as well as the distances to be covered and the dispersal of valuable species in the natural forests make it necessary to use only the "jardinage" system. However, in the lower part of the country, a new method of forest improvement has been tried and has already produced excellent results on 300 hectares of land. By this method the land is leased for a period of 3 years to small farmers, each receiving a parcel of land from one half to one hectare in size; after the trees have been felled, the farmers are permitted to grow crops. Mixed with these crops and spaced at intervals of 4 x 4 m., the forest service plants valuable species, mainly Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) from its own tree nurseries. The situation is very similar in Guadeloupe where there are only two machine-operated sawmills and systematic lumbering is practised only in the mangrove forests at the foot of the mountains. In both departments, large-scale projects are under consideration with a view to the future enrichment of these forests with valuable species; they include the construction of forests roads and the application of proper forest management practices.
NEW CALEDONIA
· The Government has submitted to the Assembly of the French Union a bill intended to ensure the protection of the forests of New Caledonia. These forests, which cover about one-seventh of the area of the island, are found only at 400 meters (about 1200 feet) above sea level. They have all the features of a more or less dense tropical forest depending on their exposure, the nature of the soil and the extent of erosion. The Forest and Water Service and the French Institute of Oceania have already accomplished much in respect of tree classification, inventory-taking and conservation work. The draft text prepared by the Government and adopted by the Assembly of the French Union without significant changes provides, first, for the classification of forests which are subject to forestry laws, according to the degree to which they are wooded, according to the importance of the species they contain, and according to their need for reforestation; secondly, for the regulation of felling, organizing and laying down directives for lumbering operations. Felling licenses are granted for areas from 100 to 500 ha. (250 to 1,250 acres) in size for a two-year period.
NORWAY
· The forest owners have their own marketing associations which arrange for the sale of timber. There are 19 such associations affiliated with the Norwegian Association of Forest Owners: they have about 30,000 members, representing more than half of the productive coniferous forest area. The members sell their timber to the marketing associations, which in turn sell to the buyers. Since the war, the marketing of timber has been subject to public control, and all sales contracts are therefore registered by the marketing associations. Timber prices are normally fixed by agreement between the Norwegian Association of Forest Owners and representatives of the sawmills and of the timber processing industry.. These prices have to be approved by Government authorities. The basic prices for mechanical pulpwood and cellulose wood: delivered at the watercourse have recent in years been as follows:
|
1947/48 |
39.00 |
kroner per m³ |
|
1948/49 |
40.00 |
kroner per m³ |
|
1949/50 |
39.50 |
kroner per m³ |
In addition to these prices, in 1947/48 and 1948/49, an investment charge of 3 kroner and 4 kroner per m³ respectively was paid. For the season 1949/50, this charge varied between 0.50 kroner and 2.50 kroner per m³. A further 0.50 kroner per m³ was charged as a pension subscription. It is intended that sums collected shall be paid into a pension fund for forest workers. The corresponding price for 1950 has been fixed at 44.50 kroner per m³. The investment charge will vary from 1 kroner to 7 kroner per m³ and the pension subscription is 0.50 kroner per m³. The investment funds are administered by the forestry boards and paid out to the forest owners as and when they make forestry investments for which the fund can be utilized. This investment activity may consist of road building, hut building, forest tending and the like. The silviculture fund should also be mentioned in this connection. Under the Forest Protection Act of 1932, 2 percent of the sales value of timber has to be set aside for use in connection with silvicultural work, etc. Because of the lack of labor, the forest owners have not been able to utilize the whole of the investment funds and silviculture funds and they have therefore a considerable amount on hand for future use.
SWEDEN
· With the results of the second national forest survey in sight, the Government has taken various steps to increase the future yield of the forests and to make better use of the available raw material. Among these measures is a new forest conservation law adopted in 1948 and promulgated on 1 June 1949, concerning forests owned by corporations and individuals which comprise about 75 percent of Sweden's total forest area. Some of the most important provisions of this law are as follows: "Forest land, together with the forest growing thereon, shall be managed in such a way as to promote the appropriate use of the wood-production capacity of the soil, and thus ensure a satisfactory economic profit and as far as possible, a sustained yield." The law aims at the appropriate (Editor's note: not the utmost !) use of the production capacity of the soil, and a new idea has been introduced, namely the principle of profitability. This protects a forest owner against having to make uneconomical investments in his forests such as, for instance, paying out more capital for reforestation than warranted by the likely rate of interest. A further paragraph gives a definition of the term "forest land," which is understood to designate areas not essential for any different purpose, where the soil is suitable for wood production. Land which is at present either in large part or entirely unused is not considered as forest land if the soil is better suited to purposes other than forest growth, or if the land ought not to be used for wood production, because of special circumstances. However, areas where forests ought to be established as protection against drifting sand, shifting soil, mountain drift, or for similar reasons, are to be regarded as forest land. This provision may be of importance to secure afforestation of large areas of poorly wooded pasture land not necessary to modern agriculture, and of the so-called barren lands, such as the heaths (Calluna) in the southwest of Sweden. With regard to cutting regulations the law distinguishes between forests which are capable of development and those which are not - in other words, between vigorous and non-vigorous forest stands. A vigorous forest must not, without the permission of the Forest Conservation Board, be cut except by selection cutting, and the cutting must be such as to secure the proper development of the forest. A forest is held to be "vigorous" or capable of development so long as it would, with proper tending, yield a greater profit than could be gained from immediate clear-felling. It may sometimes be difficult to determine whether a certain stand is vigorous or not. The forest owner may wish to cut it, while the Forest Conservation Board objects. In such eases the decisive factor is a calculation of the probable value increment of the stand under proper management. In non-vigorous forests, cutting may not be undertaken in such a way as to remove the possibility of further yields, nor may cutting be carried out in a manner that makes regeneration of the forests appreciably difficult. In this connection, certain social considerations are to be taken into account, such as the necessity of providing regular employment for forest workers and of maintaining a continuous supply of raw products. A sustained yield may be of importance to communities and parishes so as to provide a regular flow of communal income from taxes. Nevertheless, directions aiming at a sustained yield are not to be so strictly interpreted as to impede farmers wishing to take advantage of especially good market conditions. If cutting is carried out in defiance of-the law, the Forest Conservation Board endeavors to reach an agreement with the owner of the forest. If this should prove impossible, the Board has the power to prohibit cutting Such a prohibition, however, does not imply that no felling at all may be carried out; rather, the Board will give directions, as a rule by marking trees for felling, regarding the right methods of cutting with accompanying prohibition against felling trees other than the marked ones.
The following statutory provisions deal with compulsory reforestation. Should the density and composition of the remaining forest be considered unsatisfactory after logging, measures are to be taken to secure satisfactory reproduction in the cut-over area within a reasonable time. In this ease, however the principle of profitability is applied, so that the liability to undertake regeneration operations is limited in proportion to the yield capacity of the soil; in other words, the measures prescribed must be profitable in the long run. Certain calculations based on forest production research are necessary to determine in each ease the practical application of this provision. In order to stimulate and facilitate long-term and costly improvements in privately owned forests, the Swedish Government has long made available various financial grants. In connection with the new forest conservation law some new rules have been formulated. Grants and loans are at present extended for the following types of improvements: ditching; road construction for truck transport of forest products, etc. thinning in certain very dense forests which would not develop normally unless cleared; planting and other work to start forest production on land which has been bare from ancient times and on thinly wooded pasture land. Grants are given only in eases where the forest owner, by virtue of the forest conservation law, is under obligation to reforest after felling, and the Forest Conservation Board plans and inspects the operations. Grants usually represent the following percentages of labor costs: ditching, 40 percent; road construction, 25-50 percent; thinning and reforestation, 50 percent. Loans may, however, be granted to the full amount of the costs.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Open-east or strip-mining of coal in Ohio began about 1915, and since 1940 the annual rate has increased rapidly until at present about half of the total coal produced is mined by this method. Altogether over 36,000 acres (14,569.2 ha.) of land have been treated in this way, resulting in spoil banks and debris piles on which affirmative reclamation measures are needed. The research conducted during the past years by the Central States Forest Experiment Station has, first of all, classified the strip-mined lands as to the texture and character of the spoils, including the aeration and waterholding capacity, the acidity and the age class of the spoils, and the present cover and use of the strip-mined lands.. It is estimated that over 90 percent of the spoils could be converted readily to productive use. All of these basic factors have an important bearing on rehabilitation problems, since there is a wide range of conditions, each of which can best be handled by the use of certain tree species. Thus much of the research has naturally dealt with the testing of species. In general, most of the strip-mined lands are more adaptable to forestry than to other uses, although a good many areas have great opportunities for the development of recreation and wildlife possibilities.
· Dr. H.L. Shantz, an eminent authority on ecology, has come to the conclusion that the use of the economic yardstick in determining the best use of land commonly leads to major disaster, such as stripping of land over coal beds, destroying mountain valleys to obtain gold from overlying gravels, replacing virgin redwood forests with barren moss and lichens in an attempt to perpetuate grazing, and destroying natural perennial grasses to obtain short lived use of the land for wheat production, which leads to the formation of dust bowls. He holds the contrary view that the only safe criterion for judging permanent uses of land is that of ecology. But, in many eases, costly lessons learned from earlier experiences are not applied to current problems.
ZANZIBAR
· A recent survey and study of the forests of Zanzibar has added greatly to the knowledge of the forests and in the formulation of a program for their management. The Protectorate off the east coast of Africa, just south of the Equator and consists of two islands, Zanzibar and Pemba, with their separate archipelagoes. The two main islands have areas of 640 and 380 square miles (1,660 and 980 km²) respectively and are relatively small flat coral islands. The climate is equable, marine and tropical. Rainfall varies from 45 to 75 inches (114 to 190 cm.) per year of which about half falls during March, April and May, a quarter in October, November and December, and the remainder fairly evenly distributed among the other months. Temperature variation is small with only 3 or 4 degrees' difference between mean annual minimum and mean annual maximum. Humidity is high, ranging from 76 to 87 percent. The mangrove forests result from upcut erosion which forms fresh mudbanks. On Zanzibar there are seven important species of mangrove and on Pemba six. Mangrove forests represent a successional stage with the climax probably being monsoon forests which come in as the mud dries out. On Zanzibar there are about 11,000 acres (4,500 ha.) of mangrove type forest, with 7,000 acres (2,800 ha.) of commercial quality trees for bark production. About 50 years are required to produce an 8-inch (20 cm.) tree, the usual minimum size for bark stripping, which indicates that growth is rather slower than on the mainland. By estimating the area and stocking of the mangrove on the sustained yield basis, it is estimated that about 1,800 tons of dried bark per year can safely be taken. The condition of the mangrove forests on Zanzibar is unsatisfactory since they have been overworked, and it may be necessary to decrease the size of trees to be stripped in order to maintain the industry during the period which will be required to improve the condition of the forests under the proposed management plan. On the island of Pemba there are about 30.000 acres (12,000 ha.) of mangrove, and about 5,000 tons yield on an efficient and sustained basis is estimated as correct. Past utilization practice has been extremely wasteful and the suggested figure presupposes full protection and full utilization. Despite varying opinions, it is clear that the catchment areas on both islands are suffering abnormal erosion and it is advocated that they should be placed under the full control of the. Government so that wasteful practices such as burning, cutting of vegetation and cultivating of steep slopes may be halted and positive anti-erosion measures be initiated.
In order to meet timber requirements, it will be necessary to form plantations of suitable species and, singe fuel supplies are deficient, particularly near towns, fuel reserves will be needed as well. Over half of Zanzibar and a quarter of Pemba are bush country on which the two main occupations of shifting cultivation and line burning result in destruction of the land. The rotation on shifting cultivation is only a few years and relatively little fuel suitable for line burning is left. Thus, it will be necessary, first, to limit the areas on which shifting cultivation is permitted and, next to form plantations of fast-growing species available for industrial use as fuel. The small area of wet evergreen forest on Zanzibar has been so heavily exploited that little or no timber of any size remains, and it is recommended that no further leases be issued or renewed, that uses be found for Pandanus which hinders the growth of more valuable species, that a light working over of a fifth of the total area be made each year to stimulate regeneration and that, above all, clear-felling should not be permitted. On Pemba the practice of clear-felling would cause the land to revert to bush and this in turn decreases the ameliorating effect on cultivation. Additional legislation is required so that the Government may undertake and control the rehabilitation of the forests. Goat grazing should be controlled to avoid its development into the widespread menace that has been found in such areas as Cyprus and Malta. Legislation similar to the Indian Forest Act is needed and, in order to carry out the program suggested, some increase of the technical forestry staff is needed.
Fifty-six species of trees suitable for use as windbreaks and for other purposes have been studied and these deserve attention in the planting programs which must be undertaken to improve the forest conditions of the country. In addition, more precise inventories, mapping of the types and uses of land etc., should be undertaken promptly. Recently made aerial photographs will, it is believed, be valuable for this purpose. It is evident that a prompt and energetic program is needed to restore and perpetuate the forests which are so important to the welfare of the islands.
It is the policy of FAO to review these selected publications which appear to have a direct bearing on the current work of the Forestry Division,
LAND HUNGER IN MEXICO. Tom Gill. Pp. 86. Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry Foundation, Washington D.C. 1961. U.S. $2.00.
We are constantly being reminded that countries should protect and reforest their forest soils, improve their agricultural practices, and ensure more regular stream flow. This book attempts to translate these generalities into the specific measures that are needed in Mexico. It analyzes the factors that make up Mexico's land-use problem, not as separate independent elements, but in their interplay of agriculture, forest, and grazing land, and especially in relation to the population increase and the customs of the people themselves.
Admittedly there is no easy solution to a problem, which is daily becoming more serious as a result of the growth of population and the dwindling of suitable land. As possibilities for supporting the population are becoming less and less, the cures for its critical ills grow more difficult with time.
"Undoubtedly, part of the problem lies in the fact that 70 percent of Mexico's working population is concentrated on 7 percent of her land surface. This meagre 7 percent is Mexico's crop land. It is neither fertile, level, nor well watered, but it is all they have."
Water is one of Mexico's scarcest natural resources although there is a heavy rainfall in certain areas, such as those bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately in those zones where agricultural activity is most intense, or which are most suited to further development, the rainfall is insufficient.. The start of the rainy season varies considerably from year to year but is always of short duration.
The author does not mince words in showing how the people, through their wasteful methods of farming the soil, cutting and burning their forests, and at owing their sheep and cattle to over-graze their land, have reduced and made uncertain the meagre water supply without which life has become so precarious in Mexico.
On the basis of his analysis he concludes that four steps are basic to the building of a conservation movement in the country:
1. a resource inventory to determine the problem;
2. formulation of an integrated program of resource use;
3. creation of an organization and technical staff to administer the program;
4. education, information, demonstration, and conservation teaching in school curricula.
And, because of previous experience with such efforts, he stipulates that "whatever action is taken should be placed in competent and trustworthy hands."
He pays tribute to the valiant work of Miguel de Quevedo aimed at creating a national movement in forestry, and points out that if this effort had been applied to the boader task of rational management of all of Mexico's natural resources, it might perhaps have won wider support.
The book is short enough to appeal to busy policy-making officials of the government, its concise language and clear thinking, based-on personal experience, and on the work of men who have sympathetically devoted their efforts to the welfare of Mexico recommend it to careful consideration. This publication is about Mexico but similar books need to be prepared for each of the countries where "land hunger, with its grim offspring, belly hunger, casts deeper and deeper shadows across the land."
PLANUNG UND KONTROLLE IM FORSTBETRIEB. (Planning and Controls in Forest Management). Prof. Hermann Knuchel. Pp. 346, 121 tables, 87 diagrams and maps. H.R. Sauerländer & Co., Aarau Switzerland. 1950. Sw. fr. 32.
Although the subject matter of this book normally falls into the field of Forest Regulation it markedly deviates from the generally accepted forest regulation practices. The essential point of divergence lies in stressing regulation of production in preference to regulation of the yield. The author rejects all forms of clear cutting and adheres fully to the principle of gradual selective cuttings (Plenterprinzip) as advocated by Gurnaud, Faore, Dannecker and others of the same school. Selective cuttings tend to create most favorable growing conditions for all trees and it is the total growth of all the trees in the stand that determines the productivity of the forest. This controlled method of management requires most careful silvicultural treatment of each individual tree and repeated light cuttings at short intervals. But above all it means a high degree of intensive forest management such as exists in Switzerland, but which is still lacking in most of the vast forest regions of North America or northeastern Europe which are just emerging from a state of long neglect.
PRINCIPLES OF SILVICULTURE. Frederick S. Baker. Pp. 414 + 43 tables, 127 graphs. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, Toronto, London. 1950 (American Forestry Series). $5.00.
In the teaching of silviculture in American forest schools, the greatest emphasis has generally been on practice, using the growing body of knowledge acquired by research and experience and dealing with the many forest regions and types of the country. For a glimpse into the underlying biological facts and principles, students have had to depend on such subjects as plant physiology and soils, and on courses dealing primarily with agriculture. But in recent years forest schools have been generally teaching the principles as a separate course.
This development coupled with rapid advances in plant and soil sciences, makes the book a timely addition to the American Forestry Series. Many of the basic facts are imperfectly understood and opposing views are not uncommon on the relative influences of heat, light moisture and soil, on their interrelation in controlling growth and seed formation and on the nature and processes of photosynthesis. But an up-to-date account of the accumulated evidence a judicial weighing of opposing interpretations and doctrines, clear cut identification of the areas in which silviculture may manipulate the basic controls - such as the factor of light in its effects on seed production and seedling establishment - provide a thoroughly sound basis for students to learn what is now known of the complex natural foundations of silviculture
The author has wisely drawn on the valuable work which has been done for many decades in continental Europe, in addition to what has been published in English. A bibliography of over 500 titles lists the authorities on which the work is based. The book is well arranged, it deals first with forms and types of forests and the trees in them, then, with the basic physiological reactions of trees to water, light, nutrients, etc., and last, with the growth and development of forests from seed to old age. It would seem that the growing science of forest genetics - at least these aspects dealing with elite trees and stands - might have been covered. The author is, however primarily concerned with facts regarding natural rather than planted forests. The book is well illustrated and indexed.
LAND PROBLEMS AND POLICIES. John F. Timmons and William G. Murray. Pp. 298. Iowa State College Press Ames, Iowa, U.S.A. 1960. $3.50.
In the United States of America there is no genuine and comprehensive land policy. Instead, there are a large number of national, state and local programs, with or without reasoned bases of policy, each dealing with one kind of land or land use (farm, forest, range, wildlife or recreation), or with one activity affecting land use (irrigation, reclamation, conservation practices on farms, price support, soil conservation, etc.). This situation has grown out of the historical process of occupying and using lands principally on the basis of individual choice, of seeing problems of one kind or another develop and arouse public attention, of legislative action recognizing individual problems and setting up institutions to deal with them. Of the national agencies, probably the Forest Service, with a broad charter deals with more kinds of problems in more ways than do others, and particularly so in contrast to the several agencies concerned with agricultural lands and problems.
Conflicts in philosophy, viewpoint, policy, and program have inevitably developed, often supported by the basic laws and accentuated by the self-contained processes of policy and program formulation which official agencies tend to build up. Many policies and programs were originally developed to meet real or postulated emergencies and have failed to change as situations change. The advancement of programs often depends more on publicity and popularization than on an impartial weighing of urgency and merit against competitors. At the moment, the construction of great dams and publicly supported soil conservation on farms are favored programs while very slow progress is being made in attracting attention to the problems of forest and range on water producing areas.
There is merit then in serious and thoughtful attempts by competent men to see and analyze the problems of land and its use, as has been done in Land Problems and Policies, to set forth the elements of a land policy which might help to resolve some of the present conflicts, inconsistencies, and irrational results of a single line of approach to a many-sided problem; to suggest the kind of machinery which might evaluate specific proposals considered separately and weigh their merits as related to present policies and programs.
The Institute of Land Economies, organized by the Iowa State College in 1949, has attempted these tasks. A total of sixteen papers by various authorities covers the main features of the over-all problem, including forest, range, water, wildlife and recreation. The section dealing with public interest in private land is of particular interest, emphasizing as it does that it is not so much a question of the feet of public interest as of how to determine and enforce protection of public interest. These are matters of judgment at a given time, and local opinion must necessarily be consulted.
Determination of objectives of land policy be in terms of rigid formulae, and indeed cannot deal with land alone but must be consistent with the general purposes and aims of national policy. This conclusion lends weight to the suggestion that new types of governmental organization need to be developed to synthesize the existing dissonant policies, and to work out a fair basis for evaluating competitive programs One idea for such an organization is a Natural Resources Council, made up of men of unquestioned competence and impartiality, with special knowledge of the various aspects of land and land use, operating directly under the President, supported by the necessary staff, and with the power to call on official agencies. If such a national body were paralleled by comparable state organizations, there would be a reasonable chance of progress being made in resolving the present conflicts and inconsistencies.
Wisely, the Institute has not attempted to give definitive answers. Instead, it brings out the different views of technicians, economists, and sociologists it sets forth the scope and ramifications of the great problem of co-ordination, the possibilities of developing effective co-ordinating machinery, and the importance of further research, it calls attention to proven methods of analyzing problems and working out solutions and emphasizes the necessity of considering in a democracy local views and needs.
Foresters, dealing as they do with a major part of the earth's productive land, which is often in competitive demand for other purposes, and accustomed as they are to thinking in long-range terms, will find here a stimulating discussion which may aid them in seeing their work as part of the greater problem of land and water conservation.
A WATER POLICY FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Water Resources Policy Commission. Vol. 1, Pp. 445. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 1960. $0.15.
The broad charter of the President's Water Resources Policy Commission established in January 1950, and the character and ability of the seven men appointed to it, gave promise that the results of the Commission's work would be something more than just another report. Volume I is thus the basis for apparaising accomplishment in relation to need and opportunity.
The Commission dealt with four main problems: (1) the extent and character of federal government participation in major water resources programs; (2) an appraisal of the priority of water resources programs from the standpoint of economic and social need; (3) criteria and standards for evaluating the feasibility of water resources projects; and (4) desirable legislation or changes in existing legislation relating to the development, utilization, and conservation of water resources. The related problems of governmental organization had already been covered by the Hoover Commission.
The Commission extended its investigations over the widest possible field. Statements were obtained from the large number of federal state, and local governmental agencies and private organizations dealing with or having an interest in water problems; experts in the universities and elsewhere were consulted; public hearings were held. Selected experts from the federal agencies were loaned to the Commission; a few authorities served as consultants: a small, carefully selected, staff was chosen.
Twelve committees were set up each presided over by a staff officer. The committees covered: (1) evaluation of selected typical water Resources projects already constructed to furnish a guide to future projects selection policy; (2) objectives of water resources projects, coordination of planning, and project selection, (3) determination of the minimum essential background information necessary for sound planning of river basin projects and programs; (4) formulation of acceptable principles, and procedures for determining benefits and costs of water resources projects; (5) project reimbursement; (6) water resources policies involving land-use economies, particularly of agricultural lands; (7) federal power policy, (8) recreation and water Resources; (9) inland water navigation projects and national transportation policy; (10) domestic and industrial water supply; (11) major river basin program analysis; and (12) water resources law. The chairmen and Commissioner as a group analyzed over-all water policies. The Commissioners prepared this report, in 19 chapters, in each of which recommendations on policy are developed. The chapters are: (1) Regional development (2) National objectives; (3) Unity in planning; (4) Evaluation; (5) Reimbursement; (6) A Resources investment program; (7) The need for basic information; (8) Surface and ground water, (9) Watershed management; (10) Flood management; (11) Land reclamation; (12) Domestic and industrial water supply; (13) Pollution control; (14) Inland and intra-coastal waterways; (15) Hydroelectric power; (16) Recreation, (17) Fish and wildlife; (18) Conservation education; and (19) Legal aspects. The recommendations embody the Commission's own ideas, and are clearly and forcefully stated.
Foresters will find chapters on watershed management, recreation, fish and wildlife and conservation education of particular and direct interest. It is found, for example, that some agricultural programs neither support nor run counter to the watershed management and soil conservation programs - all in the United States Department of Agriculture. But foresters can hardly neglect any chapter - the interrelations among the necessarily arbitrary subjects are too closely drawn to warrant partial reading. Appendices on "Standards of Basic Data" and "Evaluation of Constructed Projects" are of absorbing interest.
Out of it all comes a "National Water Resources Policy" with a summary of recommendations. It is compellingly clear, says the Commission, that there are serious wastes in exploiting nature; that water is the key natural resource; that water is limited in relation to needs for its use; that conservation of water resources is inextricably bound up with conservation of land Resources and if one is neglected the other suffers. Civilizations are built on a combination of water, land and people; policy must serve people and they must share in forming policy. This is a time for decision and action, on a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal basis, with clearly defined goals and with conservation replacing existing exploitation, all to the end that the nation may remain strong in an expanding economy and thereby serve its own and many other peoples.
Policy rests on a framework of principles. Regional and national goals must be defined; the river basin as a whole is the unit of planning; simple procedures for measuring the worth-whileness of investments are needed; everyone who enjoys the advantages of federal investment should be treated alike in repayment procedures; financing of water resource programs should be on a program basis; planners of river basin programs should be provided with all necessary facts; sound management of watersheds, underground waters and floodwaters is required; all the services of water resources should be used for national strength.
Among the 70 specific policy proposals which derive from the principles, two will be especially welcome to foresters: (1) watershed management should be included as a principal objective in planning and developing basin programs and should have available enough funds to bring economically controllable deterioration under control within a reasonable time; (2) all federal programs and the mining laws should be adjusted to strengthen watershed management.
A forthcoming second volume of the report will analize ten selected river basins and examine whether conditions there justify application of the proposed principles and policies, and, next, to what extent principle and policy are applicable to individual basins. A third volume will propose and justify a single water policy law. It is already indicated that a reviewing and co-ordinating commission for each major basin, and an over-all national review board, will be proposed, unless action under the Hoover Commission report makes this unnecessary.
The Commission has redeemed fully and well the promise implied in its charter and membership. Its proposals cover competently and boldly both of the major elements and the water and land problem as an indivisible whole, they are endowed with a sense of urgency fitting to the time of need, and are based on the realities of political action in a democracy.
The first comprehensive water Resources policy was formulated over 40 years ago as the fullest expression of the conservation doctrine developed by Gifford Pinchot and was fully supported by President Theodore Roosevelt. The action deriving from it, however, broke up into many separate measures, and as a result the solution of the land and water problem as a whole suffered.
This Commission has found the same problems, intensified and aggravated, rather than new ones. Its great contribution, the finest in the national resources field since 1909, is to start again from the principle of unity and to develop a body of policy based on it. If public opinion and political action can rise to the level attained by the Commission, by weighing judicially the competitive demands of agencies and organizations, while refilling to be controlled by them, there may come into being an urgently required and competent course of unified public action. Foresters everywhere must have an important part in any such program.
PLYWOODS: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE. A.D. Wood & T.G. Linn. Pp. 547 illus. W. & A.K. Johnston, Ltd., Edinburgh and London. 1950. $4.00.
The growth in the production of plywood, the development of new sources of supply, the increase in the number of woods used, the expanding technology of manufacture and the need for using proved methods, combine to justify a comprehensive and up-to-date book on plywood. This publication should be of value to manufacturers, the trade, users of plywood, architects, foresters, and laymen.
It is divided into ten parts. Part I covers development and history which goes back to the ancient days of the Pharaohs, definitions of veneer and plywood; general data on sources of supply. Part II covers the physical properties of wood and plywood, with chapters on the structure of wood and the development of figure in wood, on moisture in wood, on the chief characteristics of wood and plywood and the ways in which figure is disclosed by cutting into veneer. Part III deals with the many steps in the manufacture of multiply, including preparation of logs; conversion into veneer by several methods of cutting, trimming to width; plywood production processes; drying of veneers; jointing and repairing veneers; assembling; adhesive and their application; presses; pressing; finishing operations; manufacturing defects. Part IV covers development and manufacture of laminboard, blackboard, composite board, technical plywood, and specialties.
Part V is concerned with grading testing, packing, and storing. Part VI discusses the plywood-producing countries of the world arranged by continents and gives data on production facilities, output, species used, etc.,
Part VII gives data on the species used for plywood, divided into commercial plywoods, including laminboard and blockboard; other woods used in plywood manufacture; decorative veneers. For each species, scientific and common names, alternative trade names, chief sources of supply, description, working qualities, uses, and dimensions and construction of plywood grades, are given. Finally Part VIII deals with the plywood trade in the United Kingdom, and Part IX covers the development of wall panelling. Part X, while not giving all the information available in specialized works, deals with the applications of plywood in veneering; furniture manufacture and general woodwork; shipbuilding and light graft construction; utility services and motors boxes, barrels, baskets, and trays exterior work.
An appendix includes terms and definitions, constructional details, technical data, and an index.
The typography is excellent and well-chosen illustrations add to the interest and value of the book. This is the first revision of the original text and it is to be hoped that later revisions will be made to keep pace with advances in the manufacture, and changes in the sources of supply and uses of plywood.
MODERN WOOD ADHESIVES. Thomas D. Perry. Pp. 208. Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York and Chicago. 1944. $4.00.
The development, technical application and increased uses of adhesives have contributed greatly to the rapidly expanding use, both in volume and kind, of veneers and plywood during recent years. Several types of glue and adhesives are in use, including animal glues, bone and hide; vegetable glues, cassava; casein glues; soybean meal glues synthetic-resin adhesives phenolic and urea; silicate of soda glues; blood-albumin glues; and prepared, mixed, and proprietary glues. Each of these has its own characteristics ease or difficulty of application, adaptability to cold or hot press methods advantages and limitations.
In comparing glues, the service conditions of the product are particularly important in determining adhesive quality and durability. Climatic durability under extremes of heat, cold or exposure to moisture is necessary in many products. In addition, simplicity and convenience of application of the adhesive in the manufacturing process must be considered. Workability under tools is also a factor of comparison, and glues differ greatly in this respect. Although cost of various glues per 1,000 sq. ft. of single glue joint differ in a ratio of 1 to 7, the cost is a relatively small fraction of total cost and should not be over-emphasized in making choices.
The most significant generalization is that no one glue or adhesive is superior to all others in every respect. Each has its own place and purpose, general or special, and its own characteristics, cost, etc., Detailed information on each is given in this reference manual, together with data on methods of comparison, on mixing and spreading equipment, on pressures in glueing, on adhesion scoured by heat, on re-dries for glue solvents, on impregnation, and on glue testing. This information should make the book valuable to engineers, architects, designers, manufacturers and users of glue and adhesives in many of the wood-using industries. Foresters may not need to learn details, but it is well to know that an advanced technology in adhesives does exist, and that this offers many possibilities for the efficient and profitable use of forests in the plywood industry.
