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 wed by the Forestry Division for reference purposes. FAO assumes no responsibility for statements in news items accepted in good faith from outside contributors.
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Industry and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
Selected reviews
France
· The Eighth International Botanical Congress will be held in Paris in the first half of July and will be divided into 27 sections with discussions in the form of symposia under each. The sections of particular interest to foresters are those dealing with phytogeography, morphology and anatomy, general forest botany and wood anatomy, phytopathology and the protection of nature. Before and after the Congress excursions will be organized to typical regions of France and French Overseas Territories.
New Zealand
· A compact and informative leaflet on forestry in New Zealand consists of chapters from the New Zealand Official Yearbook. Information is given on the historical background statistics and the present status, so that an adequate picture is presented of the current situation and the development that may be expected. Major chapters deal with national forest policy, forest resources, forest authority, forest management, fire protection, soil conservation, public and private forestry, the finance of state activity, forest utilization, over-seas trade, research, the principal forest trees, and the strength properties of New Zealand timbers. The national forest survey, begun in 1946, is expected to be completed as to its main objects by 1956 so that New Zealand is well advanced toward the goal of comprehensive and accurate information regarding its resources.
Sarawak
· The natural resources of Sarawak have been reported on by the Natural Resources Board which consists of the members of all departments concerned with resources. Sarawak, located on the northwest coast of Borneo just north of the Equator, covers about 47,000 square miles (12 million ha.) and had a population of nearly half a million in 1947. A policy of developing the country's resources primarily for the benefit of the people was begun by the first Rajah, Sir James Brooke, over a century ago, and the present Government undertakes to follow the same policy, taking advantage of modern science to speed up development.
Practically the whole natural vegetation is included in the lowland tropical rainforests, with areas of scrub forest subject to shifting cultivation and small areas of moss forest on exposed higher ridges. Forests are primarily of evergreen trees in mixed stands. There are probably more than 2,600 tree species, and over 100 may occur on a single acre (250 per ha.), but no more than 260 species in all are of com into mangrove swamps peat-swamp forest, "heath forests", riparian forests, and several other lesser types. In addition to the principal timber species concerning which considerable information has been obtained, the forests produce a number of other products which add to their value. Accessibility to the forests is still in a far from advanced stage, but the opportunities for expansion of utilization are considerable.
The financial position of the territory is a happy one. There are no income taxes, no public debt, and there is a large treasury reserve. Exports of agricultural, forest and mostly mineral products, have grown steadily and lately very substantially.
United States of America
· In the state of Oregon, as elsewhere, many surveys of specific natural resources have been carried out and plans for development made. Many of these are generally available but are often more understandable and useful to the specialist than to the interested layman or to general students of the whole field. In many colleges and universities, teaching and research on natural resources is broken down into many departments and schools. Thus there is a widespread need to bring together essential information on each aspect of the whole range of natural resources.
Oregon State College has successfully undertaken such a job in the form of an atlas of Pacific Northwest resources and development. It was able to call on no less than 22 of its own faculty, each representing a department or school and, in addition, received wholehearted help from many agencies and individuals. The subjects covered include landforms, climate types, water resources, soil resources, land capability classification forest resources; range lands; croplands; types of farming; fishery ret sources; mineral resources; electric power facilities, transportation, manufacturing development; forest utilization; recreation resources; and population.
Each subject is given a brief general text and appropriate maps, diagrams and tabular material: the maps being of a uniform pattern make comparison simple. The atlas is thus a comprehensive and authoritative summary of the many resources already used or available which make this region so rich, and should be of great value in gaining intelligent understanding from citizens and legislators alike.
· Addressing the Fourth American Forestry Congress, held at Washington in October 1953, President Eisenhower said that it was the purpose of his Administration to create a balanced but advancing economy and prosperity in the country.
"For any group of people who are engaged in the conservation of our resources-in the production of a product which may range anywhere from 15 to 80 or 90 years - you are concerned directly and by reason of your profession with a steady rather than an intermittent and historical-like action in the advancing forces, the advancing tradition, of our economy. You deal more directly than most, I think, in futures - not merely a future of the day after tomorrow or who are we going to have in such an office, or what kind of activity will be going on in that place. You deal in decades, decades in the growth of your product, of the forests and the trees, and in the conservation of all those elements of our continent that make that possible...When I first led an invading force onto another continent during the war, we went into northern Africa. It was difficult to believe that that area had once been the granary of the ancient world, that it provided the timber and almost all of the agricultural resources that were used in Italy and Greece and Sicily.
Today, in such vast areas, there is just a stretch of sand and desert. The civilization that supported the cities that flourished is gone.
That is the kind of thing that must never happen here. It is through the wisdom, the efforts, the dedication, and the devotion of such people as yourselves, that it will not happen. Too many of us are blind, or indifferent, or just completely ignorant of the facts that make that work so important".
Uruguay
· At Punta Ballena, Maldonado Department, among shifting sand dunes that the winds have swept over field and homestead, among hills, sierras and peaks stripped bare by centuries of intense erosion, and against the background of the west Rio de la Plata, there is a forgotten Botanical Garden, called the Lussich Forest, which ought to be extremely valuable for scientific studies and also as a seed source.
Punta Ballena, 120 meters high projects like a spur some hundreds of meters into the Rio de la Plata where it is under the constant lashing of the waves. Opposite is the island of Gorriti that has now been forested by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.
The chief of the Uruguayan Forest Service reports how in 1896 Don Antonio Lussich acquired the land and gradually planted it abundantly with selected species. Apart from the arboretum, over 800 hectares are under pine and eucalyptus.
Species from a great variety of latitudes now grow there; plants from hot countries associating with plants from cold countries, and between these extremes many temperate species. The flora of all continents is worthily represented and the plants manage to live together under purely natural laws.
But now the Lussich forest is neglected real estate, waiting for development.
New Zealand
· In genetics research steady progress has been made towards the testing of progeny of the phenotypically elite trees of Pinus radiata that have been provisionally selected for the formation of seed orchards. In addition, clonal material has been established for the future study of the effect of different sites on trees possessing the same genotype.
Procurement of seed for comprehensive provenance trials of eight of the major exotic species proceeds steadily where it has not been delayed by deficient seed years; ready co-operation has been received from many countries in Europe and America.
The forest geneticist has served as the research institute representative on the seed committee set up by the Forest Service to locate and inspect stands of exotic conifers of high quality that can be used as standard sources of seed for routine establishment.
United States of America
· Over 180,000 pine seedlings have been planted throughout the South in a series of tests designed to investigate the existence and distribution of geographic races of the four major southern pines. Three hundred co-operators from private, state, and federal forestry agencies are participating. The purpose of the tests is to determine whether genetic differences exist between southern pines of the same species grown under different climatic conditions or on lands of different geological origin.
The four pine species under investigation are loblolly, slash, short-leaf and longleaf. Previous investigations strongly indicate that such geographic races do exist for loblolly pine and that the various races differ tremendously in rate of growth, resistance to disease, and ability to withstand low temperatures. Planting trees of a given race outside the region to which they are adapted may mean heavy financial loss in growth or, sometimes, complete failure. It is hoped that the present study will enable foresters to define racial ranges for the major southern pines.
· The Department of Agriculture Yearbook for 1955 will have water as its central theme. Technical committees from the various bureaus concerned are being appointed, and the preliminary work on organization and assignments is under way. The book will have two major purposes:
1. to create a greater awareness on the part of the people of the significance of water resources for their well-being and the possibilities for improving the use, conservation, and management of this resource;2. to accomplish this goal by means of an objective presentation of the best available scientific knowledge of water as a natural resource, with particular emphasis upon its characteristics and interrelations with land and people.
Canada
· Seven principal tasks in the field of silviculture research have been defined after discussion with members of the timber industry and the provincial services as those on which to concentrate most effort for the years to come. These are:
1. site classification, including the whole field of forest description;2. silvics and ecology, study of species and their behavior in association with each other;
3. applied silviculture - learning about the way different species of forest trees respond to treatment;
4. growth and yield
5. reforestation and tree-breeding. The tree-breeding program is being directed towards Setting a better strain of spruce for planting stock;
6. methods of organization of forest management and regulation;
7. study of research technical methods.
Government organizations can carry out much work on all these lines except one on which heavy reliance must be placed upon industry - namely, for applied experiments in silviculture or experimental cuttings.
New Zealand
· New Zealand must give reconsideration to the development of its own supplies of hardwoods. One possibility is the development and use of the native species of Nothofagus because of their wide distribution and their ready response to silvicultural treatment. The information available on silver beech (N. menziesii) has already been brought up-to-date and a similar summarization for red beech (N. fusca) shows that it, too, has a potentially important role to play, particularly in the most productive forests in the northwestern part of South Island.
Pure sizeable red beech stands are rare and most of the area of managed beech will have to be developed through conversion of the natural beech-podocarp forest to even-aged beech. The basic method for accomplishing this is the uniform system imposed because of the impossibility of obtaining rapid, large-scale regeneration of the podocarps. The regeneration technique consists essentially in the preparation of the forest floor, timed in relation to the infrequent seed crops and retention of adequate seed bearers, since rapid regeneration requires bare mineral soil, and mere opening of the canopy and treatment of a forest floor, if improperly timed, do not guarantee regeneration.
Another way to improve the hardwood supplies is through intelligent expansion of the area of eucalypts which at present cover only 20,000 acres (8,000 ha.). Past plantings of eucalypts have often been ill-considered in fitting species to sites through ignorance of the climatic requirements of the various useful species.
United States of America
· Aircraft reseeding of several areas burned over in 1953 in southern California national forests was already under way before the fire season had ended. On some areas the helicopter was being used with suitable adaptations for such work and, on other areas, fixed wing craft were employed. Advance field examination, including soil studies, determine both the areas to be seeded and the species to be used. Both grass seed of various species and mustard seed were used depending on the findings of the field examination. Previous experience indicated that a heavy stand of such temporary and short-lived plants the seed of which germinate promptly, accomplishes a great deal in holding soil in place during the critical period before resprouting of the native brush species recaptures a measure of soil control. On all burns, the slopes are from steep to very steep and, since high intensity rains are to be expected, prompt work is required to reduce soil movement.
· In a recent issue of Fire Control Notes a valuable point was made by a national forest fire control staff officer in the Pacific Northwest who emphasized that, despite the value of big machinery in controlling fires, the invariable use of such equipment - and waiting for it to arrive at fires-is neither necessary nor good, and in feet has disadvantages. It has long been suspected that foresters dealing with fires have too widely accepted the viewpoint of loggers that fires cannot be controlled without big machinery although, in fact, in the "horse and buggy" days tens of thousands of fires were controlled by hand work.
General dependence on big machinery for suppressing fires leads to:
(a) slower arrival at the fire by machinery as compared with crews of men equipped with hand tools;(b) smashing out of wider lines often not needed to control fires, even slowly spreading slash fires;
(c) piling up great masses of mixed earth and fuel which may smoulder for long periods and require abnormally heavy expenditure for mop-up and patrol compared with cleaner fuel masses resulting from hand work which burn out more rapidly.
On many fires, use of big machinery is desirable and advantageous but not on all, and the job of the fire manager is to recognize specific situations in which hand work is adequate and economical. Not many years ago, woods crews were the cream of those available for fire suppression, but the modern lumberjack, being wholly a user of power machinery, is no longer skilled in hand work. Thus to an increasing extent, fire control agencies must depend on their own trained and seasoned fire suppression crews to do hand work on fires.
Ceylon
· The place of aerial photography as an aid in planning improved land use and flood control is described by R. Maclagan Gorrie in an article in the United Kingdom periodical World Crops for October 1953. Dr. Gorrie, who has worked for many years on the problem of soil conservation in India, Pakistan and Ceylon takes his examples from his aerial survey work in the Kotmale River headwaters area in Ceylon.
Any comprehensive and constructive approach to the control of floods and the better utilization of available rain run-off must depend upon an analysis of the soil erosion problem, because the amount of usable water is inevitably much smaller than the total run-off from floods. To plan works to conserve moisture and control erosion in detail normally requires intensive study of the ground conditions to analyse the efficiency, or otherwise, of the various types of forest, systems of grazing, crop rotations, methods of field cultivation, intensity of population settlement, road systems, and in fact all the factors which are now grouped under the general heading, land use.
The use of aerial photographs and related air survey methods will, however, go a long way towards reducing the time spent on field work. Air survey was of particular value in such features as the following: appraisal of the effectiveness of forest cover or lack of it in controlling erosion and especially the delimitation of areas requiring afforestation and better control of grass fires, analysis of bare and eroding cultivated areas both in large estates and in small holdings; fixing of maximum permissible slope for cultivation, and generalized planning of terraces and other erosion control works on such lands; study of stream beds to provide torrent correction, especially the positioning of small water-holding holding dams, boulder check dams, stream clearance and other stream channel and flood prevention works, as well as location and proposals for correcting landslides and soil creep.
United Kingdom
· In 1950-51, after completion of the main census of woodlands in Great Britain, the Forestry Commission undertook a supplementary census covering:
(a) hedgerow and park trees;(b) small patches and groups of trees less than one acre (0.4 ha.) in extent, as well as strips and belts less than one chain (20 m.) wide which had been excluded from the main census;
(c) small woods of one to five acres (0.4 to 2 ha.) in extent;
(d) the woods, and stands or portions of woods, classified as simple coppice or as unproductive in the main census of 1947-49.
This census has now been reported upon in detail. Special sampling methods were used and, to test the accuracy of the procedure, three independent sets of samples were taken. Essentially, the method depended on the use of the accurate Ordnance Survey 10 miles to one inch (6 km. to 1 cm.) map of Great Britain on which grids were laid out which were then examined in the field. The actual standard error due to sampling was 8.5 percent. A detailed description of methods used is given in the Commission's report.
Of the grand total of 3,773 million cu. ft. (107 million m³) of timber, 2,744 million cu ft. (78 million m³) or 73 percent, was contained in large woods of 5 acres (2 ha.) and over; 222 million cu. ft. (6.3 million m³) or 6 percent, in small woods of 1 to 5 acres (0.4 to 2 ha.); 807 million cu. ft. (22.8 million m³), or 21 percent, in hedgerow and park trees; thus 27 percent of the country's timber reserves are in woods omitted from the main census.
United Kingdom
· The first official survey of private forestry costs in England and Wales covering the year 1951-52, together with supplementary information for the years from 1946-47, has recently been reported. Various difficulties were encountered, including that of gaining the co-operation of owners, the completeness and comparability of their financial records, and that of obtaining good geographical and size-class distribution of the estates sampled.
Information on overhead costs was found generally inadequate, and the survey finally covered the main elements of plantation establishment and initial care including preparation of ground, fencing, planting, beating up, and first-year weeding. Within each of these primary items there was extreme variation in highest and lowest costs. Neither weighted nor unweighted averages were considered to give the best general picture of what might be expected, and the most useful summarization was found to be the cost-size group containing most costs. This showed total cost per acre to range from £47 - £62 ($326 - $430 per ha.) with, for example, ground preparation ranging from £11 - £17 (1;77-$119 per ha.) fencing from £18 - £21 ($124- $146 per ha.), and planting from £15 - £18 ($104 - $124 per ha.). Size of plantation, of course, is reflected particularly in cost per acre of fencing which tends to be greater for smaller plantations. It has not vet been possible to obtain costs of thinning and extraction to roadside, although future surveys with the expected improved cost-keeping by owners should make such information available, as well as a finding on overhead costs.
During the years from 1946-47 to date, the trend has been for establishment costs to increase with rising labor costs, although not all the major elements show a comparable trend.
· The Forestry Commission, after consultation with the United Kingdom Forestry Committee, has announced changes in the grants paid to private woodland owners.
The planting grant to owners of "dedicated woodlands", and small woodlands not suitable for dedication is raised from £14 to £15 an acre ($96 - $104 per ha.), and the maintenance grant for dedicated wood lands from 4s. 6d. to 5s. an acre ($1.50- $1.70 per ha.) per annum.
A new grant at the rate of half the "dedication" grant, i.e. £7.10.0 per acre ($52 per ha.) is paid for planting after 1 October 1953 to owners who manage their woodlands according to a plan approved by the Forestry Commissioners (i.e. "approved woodlands").
A new grant is to be paid for the next five years for the clearance of unproductive scrub (to be defined in regulations to be issued later), the clearing of which is estimated to cost more than £15 net per acre ($104 per ha.), from land which the owner undertakes to restock with trees.
United States of America
· As the Forest Survey in the U.S.A. has continued, it has, by logical development, extended into various fields collateral to the initial purpose of obtaining inventories. One of these areas is the distribution of forest land ownership and the relationship of type, kind and size of ownership to the intent and characteristics of management.
A recent study of this sort dealing with the coast range pine region of California shows the enormous complexity of the private ownership problem which has grown up through the application of the original public land laws, subsequent sale, resale and inheritance. Forest land constitutes 92 percent, or 5.8 million acres (2.3 million ha.), of the total land, and commercial forest land totals 3.2 million acres (1.3 million ha.). Private ownership holds about 1.2 million acres (486,000 ha.) of the commercial forest land. Nearly 2,600 owners had a share of the commercial land, and nearly 5,700 held forest land.
Ownership types include timber holding companies and individuals; range livestock farming companies; other farmers; recreational property owners, and a large number of other classified types. Timber holding companies have 34 percent of the commercial forest land, range livestock farming individuals 18 percent, and timber operating companies 15 percent, the other classes each accounting for less than 10 percent of the total. On all forest land, farming and ranching were the major uses on 2,629 holdings, there was no use on 1,278, there was recreational use on 673, residence on 578, a combination of uses on 427, and timber operations covered 85 holdings. AS regards all forest land, two-thirds of the owners lived in the county concerned nearly one-third outside the county but within the state, and 3 percent lived outside the state. For commercial forest land, in contrast, one-third lived in the county, 60 percent outside the county but within the state, and 7 percent lived outside the state. The analysis of the occupation of commercial owners showed that the operators of other business owned 45 percent 22 percent were timber operators, 18 percent were range live-stock farmers, and other farmers, professional people, office employees, skilled and unskilled wage earners, housewives and retired people each had a lower percentage holding.
Thus the spread of ownership in various categories of people, intent of management, and size of holdings altogether makes an extremely complex picture in this sub-region which may not be typical of broadly similar areas, but at least is typical in showing the large number of diverse kinds of owners who must be reached if even minimum forestry practices are to be employed, and raises the realistic question whether all land classified as commercial forest is ever likely to be managed and used for the primary value as set by nature.
Even though the individual holdings of many of the people primarily interested in forest land for its recreational values, as a place of residence or as a speculative future source of profit are not large, in the aggregate the total is considerable, and such studies as this serve to emphasize the great problem of getting the commercial forest land actually used and managed for production.
Canada
· Speaking at Toronto last December, the Chief of the Forest Products Laboratories of Canada said:
"Water transportation, though not as rapid as road and rail transit, has the economic advantage of low cost. It has rendered very valuable service in the expansion of our timber trade. However, not all markets can be reached by water and rail and road transport will continue to be essential for a considerable volume of our lumber production.By way of comparison, it is interesting to note that rail transportation costs from British Columbia to Ontario are some three times greater than ocean rates from Vancouver to London.
In recent months there has been considerable discussion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and indications are that there will be an early start in the construction of this inland water route. This land-bound seaway 'could have an economic impact of major importance on our lumber trade. Not only could timber from Newfoundland and the Maritime provinces be water-borne to central Canada but this waterway would permit an all-water route from the Pacific Coast through the Panama Canal, over the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thence inland as far as the head of the Great Lakes. Perhaps in deed the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway will provide an entirely new look to Canada's timber trade".
East Africa
· A report states that a recent meeting of the East Africa Timber Advisory Board suggested the formation of an East African Timber Trade Federation. The Advisory Board, composed of government officials, businessmen and forestry experts from Tanganyika, Kenya, and Uganda, felt that such a Federation would be of considerable value to the trade of all three territories, especially in regard to the development of export markets.
Germany
· The Holzwirtschaftliches Jahrbuch for 1953 contains 31 papers by 27 authors well-known in German circles concerned with wood utilization and research, and gives an excellent picture of the present high status of these professions in Germany. The latest developments in machinery testing, standardization and the different branches of wood utilization - especially in the field of construction and packaging - are briefly described. The practical usefulness of this yearbook has steadily improved over the three years in which it has been published by the biggest commercial periodical concerned with Germany's wood utilization.
New Zealand
· While New Zealand Forest Products Ltd. has been completing its pulp and paper mills, an even larger project has been evolved to utilize the 250,000 acres (100,000 ha.) of State-owned plantations on the adjoining Kaingaroa plains. This project is to be carried out by the Tasman Paper and Pulp Company, in which private and Government capital will jointly participate. Under an agreement between the New Zealand Government and the company, it will establish a large newsprint mill and integrated sawmill plant drawing for its timber supplies on about 200,000 acres (80.000 ha.) of what is known as the Murupara working circle on the Kaingaroa plains. This extensive scheme, with ancillary services, will cost about £28 million ($78.4 million)-about £15 million ($42 million) for plant and accommodation and the remainder for roads, the extension of a railway, and the building of a harbor at Mount Maunganui, near Tauranga. In addition to supplying the New Zealand market, both this company and New Zealand Forest Products will export overseas, chiefly to Australia.
Although the Tasman company has still to erect its plants, it has already completed most of the preliminary work connected with its financing and organization and the Government, for its part, has pushed on with extension of road and rail communications to open up the plantations and provide rail and sea access. About 42 miles (68 km.) of new permanent way will have to be built to link the forests with the present Bay of Plenty railway and the new port to be built at Mount Maunganui. This port will be conveniently placed for Australian trade and will be well equipped with modern loading installations.
The establishment of the Tasman company is an interesting example of co-operation between a Government and private enterprise. The New Zealand Government will not only sell the company its timber supplies, but it will invest about £1 million ($2.8 million) of share capital, back the company's preliminary financial arrangements, and establish its essential road and rail communications. Private enterprise will find the remainder of the capital, build and operate the mills and market their products.
The plant for the Tasman company's mills, designed by a Canadian firm, will when completed produce annually 75,000 tons of newsprint, 36,000 tons of kraft pulp and 72 thousand super feet (about 36,000 standards) of sawn timber. The plant is to be erected by New Zealand's largest construction group and two American firms.
Tanganyika
· The mountain grasslands in the southern highlands of Tanganyika cover an area of approximately 300,000 acres (120,000 ha.). Much of this was once covered with forest but, in the course of time, trees and bush have been cut down to provide fresh fund on which to grow crops. As the land became impoverished, the country, side became grass-covered and is now, as it stands, of no economic value.
Fierce fires cover vast areas during the dry season, exposing the soil to drying winds and heavy storms which normally introduce the rainy season.
Under conditions such as these, afforestation in some form or other is the only economical means of rehabilitating the countryside. As a step in this direction, the wattle estates of the British Colonial Development Corporation were begun in late 1949; the aim was to establish 30,000 acres (12,000 ha.) of black wattle, Acacia mollissima during the next six years. To produce 30,000 acres (12,000 ha.) under wattle, a total area of 44,000 acres (17,800 ha.) was surveyed and subsequently leased from the Government. At present, 17,000 acres (6,900 ha.) have been planted.
The establishment of wattle plantations to produce the maximum yield of bark with good tannin content in the shortest possible time combines both agricultural and silvicultural operations.
Rates of growth vary considerably according to the situation. On the plateaus it is possible to produce trees up to about 20 feet (6 m.) in height at the age of two years while on the poorer spurs rate of growth may be six to eight feet (1.8-2.4 m.) less at the same age.
In the second rainy season a deep furrow is plowed between the rows of trees growing on the slopes to catch all the rain possible and prevent erosion. For this reason it is essential that all the original seeding is carried out along the contours.
Felling of trees and stripping of bark is expected to begin when the first plantation is seven years old although the ultimate rotation will probably be ten years, when, in the better areas, the trees will have reached a height of 65 to 60 feet (17-18 m.).
The bark will be processed in an extract factory to be situated centrally on the estates: plans for this are now being prepared. The factory will probably have a capacity considerably exceeding the total production of the estates, and efforts are, therefore, being made to encourage wattle-growing by private interests, both European and African, to augment the production of bark. There are vast areas of grasslands available within an economic haulage distance of the factory site.
United States of America
· The story of the Gaylord Container Corporation illustrates phases of the development of commercial forestry in the United States. It goes back to the year 1905 which saw the staking out of the original location for the Great Southern Lumber Company. After an investment of around $ 15 million in forests, railroads, houses, sawmill and logging equipment, operation of the sawmill started in 1908.
Any enterprise as large as this was soon sawing logs at a fantastic rate and in a very short time extensive cut-over areas accumulated. Consistent with the outlook of the times, attempts were made to determine what phases of agriculture crops, cotton, livestock and poultry might be adaptable to the land. But cut-over land developed at too fast a rate to be absorbed by the agricultural programs of that day.
In 1916, Louisiana Fiber Products built one of the first southern pulp and paper mills primarily to utilize some part of the waste forest material which previously had been burned or left to rot, this mill was not successful but a second, the Bogalusa Paper Company began operations in January 1918. Soon, however, redwood was being brought from the west coast in an effort to keep the sawmill operating at capacity, and two expeditions were sent to Central America-Nicaragua and British Honduras - to locate timber to be brought to Bogalusa for processing. These efforts did not help the paper mill, however, and it became apparent that a continuing local source of raw material must be made available if it were to survive the sawmill. Considering the capital investment involved, changing from one location to another was not only uneconomical but impossible.
After visiting the forests of Sweden, the owners became most enthusiastic about the possibilities of growing a second crop of pine trees on their denuded, cut-over lands. In the winter of 1920-21 the artificial seeding of 800 acres (325 ha.) marked the beginning of an all-out effort to keep the forest land continually productive At the same time fire protection, was established on 5,000 acres (2,000 ha.) and seed trees were marked on areas as yet uncut. The early program gradually shifted from the sowing of seed to the planting of wild stock and then to the establishment of a forest nursery for the growing of satisfactory planting material.
By 1935 it had been finally decided to cut the remaining longleaf pine timber, liquidate the sawmill and transfer all assets to the paper mill. Then, in 1937, the Bogalusa Paper Company merged with Robert Gaylord Inc. to form the present Gaylord Container Corporation. Using as a guide past experience in bringing cut-over land back into production, the new directors decided on an aggressive forest policy, the tangible results of which are now visible on the 472,000 acres (166,000 ha.) of land controlled by the corporation. Located in three districts, all holdings lie within 100 miles (160 km.) of the mill and include a total of 98,843 acres (40,000 ha.) which have been planted to date. It is anticipated that during the next five years 8,000 to 10,000 acres (3,200-4,000 ha.) will be planted annually.
Canada
· Scientists in eastern Canada are reported to have developed a process by which pulp products can be manufactured out of the sawdust produced by British Columbia sawmills. The process, still in the laboratory stage, dissolves sawdust with chlorine dioxide. The method is relatively simple, eliminating the usual complex and expensive pressure cooking. The only obstacle to development of the idea so far has been the high cost of chlorine dioxide. But the chemical has already dropped in price significantly, and scientists are hopeful it will continue to drop as new applications are found for its use. Federal officials say more than two million tons of sawdust are produced in British Columbia every year, and if salvaged would make 560,000 tons of pulp worth about $56 million, or hardboard worth nearly $100 million.
Chile
· A member of the FAO Forestry Mission reports as follows:
"1. Better grading, both on paper and in practice, is essential to better exports of Chilean woods and a better internal demand for these woods.2. Tepa (Laurelia serrata) is so plentiful a tree in Chile and so attractive a wood if free of stain and rot that after 1, above the next most important item is better handling of tepa, by quick extraction, sawing and drying, and by chemical dipping or soaking or pressure treatment.
3. Coigue (Nothofagus dombeyi) is so plentiful in Chile and so troublesome to dry and use satisfactorily that means to overcome its slow and uneven drying are the next most important item.
I sent recently an enquiry on the kiln drying of coigue to the Forest Products Laboratories at Madison (U.S.A.), Melbourne (Australia), Princes Risborough (U.K.) and Pretoria (South Africa) simultaneously. All replied promptly and helpfully. Melbourne's reply is specially valuable because they have much experience of an Australian Nothofagus, Nothofagus cunninghamii, myrtle beech or Tasmanian myrtle, which is closely related and evidently similar to Chilean coigue. Unfortunately, none of the four laboratories hopes much from the steaming of coigue, or any other wood, whilst green, to speed up or ease subsequent drying. Preliminary air drying to some 30 percent moisture content, followed by kilning, is strongly recommended, with special lifting and transfer trucks so that the same pile, first made for air drying, can be moved into the kiln when ready. We shall make this widely known and try to have it put into practice.
4. The overcutting of roble (Nothofagus obliqua) is such that it is important to find out more about the natural durability and stability of the two main alternatives to roble, namely ulmo (Eucryphia) and tineo (Weinmannia). They are often sold in mixture with roble but are believed to be much less durable, naturally, and to be less stable, and they are known to treat with preservatives more easily than roble.
5. We visited the Government Research Station on Vines and Wines at Cauquenes, including their cooperage. They use French oak (imported), rauli and American oaks (imported), and like them roughly in that order. The rauli behaves well but does not give the wine the same bouquet as French oak, and makes the white wine an amber color, instead of the clear color got when oak is used. They have not tried coigue yet. There is a minimum of machinery but excellent traditional handicraft.
For vineyard stakes they use ciprés de las Guaitecas (Pilgerodendron), railed north from Puerto Montt, the southern-most point on the main railway system of Chile, some 870 km. from Cauquenes. These last indefinitely. It appears to be only a question of time, however, before either exhaustion of the accessible supplies or increased cost of ciprés stakes will make treated insignis pine stakes an attractive alternative. We are going into the costs and possibilities of this because there is likely to be a major problem soon in finding markets for the rapidly growing volume of insignia pine ready for first thinning, in the 800 square miles (200,000 ha.) of pine plantations in the Concepción region.
6. There was a Congreso Forestal at Concepción on 20-22 November with emphasis on utilization, especially of insignia pine for paper pulp. FAO took part presenting five short papers, covering soil and water conservation forest management, milling, drying, grading, preservative treatment and marketing. The meeting was promoted by prominent members of Concepción University and the community specially interested in growing and using pine and other timber".
India
· A new periodical entitled Composite Wood is being published by the Research Institute at Dehra Dun. The Board of Management includes the heads of the Indian Forest Service and of the Forest Research Institute, with Dr. Ing. D. Narayanamurti as editor. Serving to promote the study and practice of the science and technology of composite wood (adhesives, plywood, laminated and other improved woods, building board etc.) and allied subjects, the first issue included original papers on investigations carried out at the Dehra Dun Institute and selected abstracts.
United Kingdom
· A comparison between the amount of energy it takes to produce 1 lb. of laminated timber as against 1 lb. Of steel is contained in a recent issue of the Timber Development Association's quarterly review.
On the basis of sawing and machining only, the energy required to work the wood in 1 lb. of laminated timber is of the order of 5 British thermal units. In the course of its manufacture A pound of steel is raised to its melting point at least twice, the energy to do this and this alone, taking no account of waste, is 568 B.T.U., and the pound of wood has strength properties which in certain important directions are greater (pound for pound) than the steel.
Compared with steel it is lighter strength for strength, more fire resistant, more readily curved and much more easily formed into tapered member's. Compared with reinforced concrete it is 10-15 times stronger along the grain weight for weight, and compared with pre-stressed concrete at least three times stronger weight for weight. There is some evidence that, when made with outer laminates of dense hardwood and inner laminates of lightweight timber, it can have a higher strength to weight ratio than any other material that is used structurally-even high duty alloys used for aeroplanes.
United States of America
· Experiments and research in an attempt to produce a rodent-proof plywood are reported for the construction and rodent-proofing of the enormous facilities necessary for storing surplus grain and farm products. The result was the development of a product known as "Gilwood" by incorporating a 4-mesh, 23 gauge, standard ungalvanized wire mesh between the outer ply and the next inner ply, in the manufacture of standard plywood. This step involved only a few problems in manufacturing technique which were soon solved.
Once the rodent proofing requirements were met, tests were undertaken to determine advantageous or detrimental effects on the plywood. These tests appear to show that incorporating the wire mesh greatly increased the strength of "Gilwood" over standard plywood.
"Gilwood" is claimed to offer the following advantages over standard plywood:
1. It is rodent-proof, which represents untold savings in rodent damage.2. It is at least double the strength of standard plywood, hence can be used at one-half the thickness required for standard plywood.
3. There is a saving of nearly one-half on freight and shipping costs per thousand square feet.
4. There is uniform distribution of stresses and strains over the entire sheet, and bridging and reinforcing of weak fibers in the wood, due to the wire mesh reinforcing.
5. There is a saving in original mill costs, on a comparable strength basis.
6. There is ease of handling and applying, due to lighter weight of sheets.
· A trade report says that products from what is termed "reconstituted wood" or "castwood" are expected to change manufacturing processes and design in hundreds of conversion industries, and revolutionize thousands of consumer products in many fields. The reconstituted wood can be formed into intricately contoured shapes of extraordinary strength and physical properties.
Castwood is the culmination of 15 years' research by the Weyerhaeuser Company; Forestrong Company developed the methods of reconstituting the fiber into industrially usable shapes.
On display for a recent demonstration were products such as television cabinets, tool handles, printing plate brooks, ladies' platform shoe soles, window frames, cabinets, contoured shoe last brooks, croquet balls, bowling pins, mallets, textile picker sticks and' watertight ammunition packaging.
Colombia
· Chapter XIII (forest education) of Colombia's new forest law promulgated on 1 September 1953 provides evidence of the wider understanding of forest values now apparent in many Latin American countries, at least in government circles if not among the population as a whole:
Art 54. A chair of silviculture will be set up at all agricultural colleges and technical schools throughout the country.Art. 55. Holders of diplomas from government and private agricultural colleges will be required to prove that they have followed a course in forestry.
Art. 56. In order to ensure improved practical training in forestry at the colleges mentioned, these will set aside land for forest research.
Art. 57. School will be started, and municipal authorities will be charged with obtaining, for both urban and rural schools, land for the cultivation of fruit trees ornamental and forest trees Art. 58. State and private colleges will be required to include in their curricula instruction in silviculture, tending of trees and the techniques of forming forest plantations.
Czechoslovakia
· A law promulgated in November 1953 set up a central administration for the country's water supplies under the Ministry of Forests and Forest Industries. The functions of the new administration include:
1. control of natural water courses and systems.2. planning the country's water supplies and distribution to all sectors of the national economy;
3. supervision of development projects involving the utilization of water power, in collaboration with the Ministry of Fuel and Power
4. supervision and maintenance of hydraulic installations with the exception of hydroelectric stations;
5. responsibility for water supply projects, purification of supplies, regularizing stream flow where forest improvement measures alone have proved inadequate, and for navigability of waterways and construction of canals;
6. technical research on improving hydraulic installations.
French West Africa
· A large-scale forestry and grazing program is outlined in a recent report to FAO.
The aim is to ensure permanent grazing resources by the establishment of grazing reserves, by forbidding the cultivation of food crops (except by tribal herdsmen) within a certain radius of watering points, and by protection measures against brush fires.
The territories principally affected are Senegal and the Cameroons, comprising for the most part savanna and wooded steppe, and having a heavy livestock population. In Senegal it is planned to bore wells along the routes followed by grazing animals in the semi-desert scrubland of the Ferlo region. The success of the project, which aims at stabilizing a population of some 150,000 nomad herdsmen, will also require certain forestry measures; if no control is exercised, land around water points is soon overgrazed, any trees are cut down and the soil rapidly ruined by fire, so that the wells have to be abandoned.
In the Cameroons, the program is designed to change the present practice of uncontrolled cattle breeding to selective production by reducing the area of land grazed at one time, marking out the boundaries of grazing land, controlling fires, and improving the range by the introduction of new forage species. The forest services are responsible for the planting of shelterbelts around pastures as anti-erosion measures, at a cost of 29 million francs ($83,000) for 1000 kilometers of belts enclosing 135000 hectares.
As regards timber production proper, the program aims at:
1. supplying local populations with wood for construction and fuel by plantations near urban centers. Felling can begin after 10-15 years (according to the region and the species) and it is estimated that 51,940 hectares will be planted between 1953 and 1957 at a cost of over 1,000 million francs ($2,857,000 million). At the time of writing the report, 6,000 hectares had been planted - mainly in the Ivory Coast.2. ensuring a sustained yield of timber for export. The present system of "creaming" the most valuable species results in high extraction costs, despoliation of the forest and small chance of regeneration of desirable species. The present long-term program aims at enriching the high forest - allowing 50 years for okoumé and 80 for mahogany - and raising the yield per hectare from its present low level of 10 m' to 300 m'.
Honduras
· A Forest Service came into being on 1 July 1953 under the Dirección General de Bosques, Aguas, Minas y Tierras of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Sub-divisions within the Forest Service have not yet been created because of lack of sufficient trained personnel. However, with the staff available, aided by two forestry advisors representing FAO and the United States, "Servicio Técnico Inter-Americano de Cooperación Agrícola" (STICA), the following work has been started:
1. a general survey of the country to study the forestry problems outlined by previous FAO and other missions;2. reforestation of national forests on El Picacho and the Sierra de Juana Lainez;
3. establishing of nurseries at El Picacho and Juana Lainez for reforestation purposes, and planting trees in parks, along roads, etc.;
4. demonstrations of a new resin tapping method for pine;
5. regular inspections of sawmills and logging operations;
6. preparing forest reservation projects, as for instance for the pine and broadleaved forest area at Cusuco in the northwestern part of the country in the mountain range Espíritu Santo;
7. a widespread campaign waged for more than two years to fight forest fires during the dry season. The majority of the forest guards will be employed again this year to fight enemy number one of the pine forests of Honduras
8. a project to control the transport and export of sawn wood in order to put revenue collection on a sound basis
9. mensuration in some pine forests, in order to get data on the growth of the various pine species;
10. preparation of a new forest law to be submitted to Congress this year.
Hong Kong
· A report on forest policy by the Forestry Officer, introduced by the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, was tabled at a meeting of the Legislative Council last December, Subject to the availability of funds, the Government was prepared to take the steps necessary to give effect to the policy recommended.
The report states that approximately three-quarters of the area of the Hong Kong territory is hill land predominantly grass-covered but with scattered areas of scrub forest. Grass is cut over wide areas by villagers for fuel, and during the dry season grass fires are common, resulting in gradual destruction of the vegetation and leading to erosion, floods damage to agricultural land and shortage of water. In addition, owing to poor soil conditions, the standard of living of the rural population is low.
The soils of the territory are suitable for forestry and in 10-15 years forests could be established over a considerable proportion of the area.
At present, the Forestry Division is largely employed on protection work preventing illegal cutting of trees and shrubs and checking damage by fire. Several thousand trees have been planted annually, the area of plantations in existence being approximately 3,000 acres (1,200 ha.). Land in catchment areas urgently requiring afforestation is about 5,000 acres (2,000 ha.). The Forestry Division also carries out amenity planting, felling and pruning of roadside trees, the clearing of trees from building sites and many other miscellaneous jobs. There is also a scheme for assistance to woodland owners.
The various land problems of the territory, including problems of water supply, erosion and soil fertility, would best be solved by a vigorous policy of afforestation and it is strongly recommended that the forest policy of Hong Kong should be, first, to Forest the waste hill lands in order to stabilize the soil, to prevent erosion and protect water supplies and, second, to produce the maximum quantity of fuel and timber, and to encourage private and village forestry.
United States of America
· The International Convention of CIO-CCL 1 Woodworkers held at Vancouver (Canada) in October 1953 reaffirmed the principles of forest policy which have the unanimous support of American woodworkers and forest workers. A resolution to this effect called for direct supervision by federal services of all timber exploitation on federal land carried out by large companies, sawmills, paper mills, mines, railways, etc., and recommended the extension of state and federal-owned forest property, the creation of new national forests - particularly in the redwood forest region-and the afforestation, under the control of the forest service, of river basins which have suffered abusive treatment in the past.
1 CIO-CCL = Congress of Industrial Organizations - Canadian Congress of Labour.
The Convention again declared itself in favor of intensive forest management on a sustained-yield basis of selective cutting and of the multiple use of forest land, and declared itself against large-scale clearcutting and short rotation periods.
It also requested financial aid for small forest owners and forest farms, mainly in the form of revised taxation systems and extension of credit facilities.
· Foresters will be interested in reviewing the 1953 report of the chief of the Forest Service, which gives special attention to grazing on national forests. Approximately 61 million acres (24.7 million ha.), or 44 percent of the western national forest area and about 1/4 of the 22 million acres (8.9 million ha.) of eastern national forests is grazed by livestock. Most of the range is forested, much of it being commercial timber land. All of it, whether forested or non-forested forested has important watershed values. The eastern national forests are grazed by a limited number of cattle, sheep and swine. Over 1.1 million cattle, 3 million sheep and a few goats graze in the western national forests. This represented a total of 7,332,000 animal unit months of use by domestic livestock in 1952. There were also 4,430,000 animal unit months' grazing by big game animals, about double that of 20 years ago.
About 11 percent of the total beef cattle population and 22 percent of the total stock sheep in the western United States graze on national forests for some part of the year. The forage furnished by national forests is about 7 percent of the total feed requirements of livestock in the western United States. The high mountain summer ranges hold a key position in the yearlong operations of most of the 23,500 stockmen who hold permits; they form an essential link with the lower elevation spring, fall and winter ranges and with improved ranch properties, which provide feed for the livestock at other times of the year. The agricultural economy of the western United States, which is based largely on irrigation and livestock production, is also inseparably linked to national forest ranges. This is true not only because of the grazing values of the latter but because they are also primary water-yielding lands. The national forests embrace the head waters which furnish most of the flow of major western rivers and streams used for irrigation, water power and domestic purposes. In the 11 Western States, the national forests yield about 53 percent of the total runoff although they occupy only 21 percent of the area. Grazing use of the national forests is therefore integrated and co-ordinated with the multiple use policy of management which recognizes water and timber production as paramount uses, with equitable consideration for the interest of stockmen, holiday makers, hunters and fishermen, and the general public.
The Forest Service has traditionally fostered two policies in its administration of the grazing resources of the national forests:
1. proper stocking and improvement of range resources to achieve desirable watershed conditions and sustained high level production of forage2. equitable distribution of the grazing privileges to favor medium and small ranchers dependent on national forest range; but with due consideration to the larger operators.
These policies will continue to govern national forest grazing use but more emphasis will be given to expanded co-operation from users in making range improvements, and in fostering even greater stability of livestock operations dependent upon these ranges. Approximately 72 percent of all grazing permits in 1952 had been in the same family for more than 10 years and 40 percent for more than 30 years. Even those in effect for 10 years or less had served the same ranch or permitted livestock for considerably longer. Thus there has been a high degree of stability of national forest grazing permits. The Forest Service: has encouraged the formation of local grazing associations and advisory boards through which permittees could express collectively their views and recommendations regarding management policies. More than 800 such boards and associations have been organized.
The total investment of the United States Government in range improvements on national forests is about $3.5 million for reseeding and another $16.9 million for such facilities as fence building, development of watering places and stock driveways. Grazing permittees during the past ten years have spent some $8.8 million for reseeding and other range development, including value of materials and labor for construction and maintenance.
FORSTOECOLOGIE (Forest Ecology). Franz Hartmann. Illus. Georg Fromme and Company, Vienna. 1953. 168 schillings (paper bound).
This ecological study of forests discusses the reactions of the basic ecological factors, such as, climate, vegetation and soil. The emphasis is on the influence of these reactions on the soil and how the soil reflects the summation of these reactions in terms of tree growth and vigor. The forest soil profile with its organic surface is a record of the conditions under which it developed, including the influences of present and past management practices. The dynamic nature of soil has been frequently recognized, but the illustrations that Hartmann uses to show the changes that can be produced in a forest soil by management practices make of soil a malleable and sensitive medium for tree growth.
In this study of ecological factors, the author sets out to remove the ambiguity which surrounds terms associated with the condition and type of the organic material found on the forest floor. He describes the various agents and processes through which forest humus types are produced: arthropods, worms, fungi; anaerobic processes, abiological (sphagnum so pure it accumulates unchanged), and moor formation. With these processes accurately differentiated, he describes a definitive system of nomenclature for the humus forms. He develops the clearest picture of soil development the reviewer has read.
The greater part of Hartmann's text builds up the information necessary for recognizing the ecological structure-soil types and factors influencing their development, humus types and facts of their origin, vegetation indicators of soil and humus conditions, root systems and their significance-to provide the tools necessary to accomplish the purpose of the book, that is, recognition and mapping of site conditions and site quality for tree growth by simple techniques readily applied in the field.
The last section on fertilizing and correcting poor conditions in forests is included because of the present intense interest in the subject in Europe. Cultivation techniques accompanying reforestation are being studied. It is an illuminating section for those who are not aware of the present day drive in Europe to improve silvicultural techniques.
In spite of its European background this book, which represents a lifetime of study, has practical application elsewhere in the world where much European soil terminology has been adopted because of the parallelism in soil conditions. It should be profitable to the professional forester throughout the world. The reviewer would appreciate comments as to the desirability of translations.
T. W. Daniel, Professor of Silviculture, Utah State Agriculture College, Logan, Utah, U.S.A.
LES EUCALYPTUS EN AUSTRALIE ET EN TASMANIE (Eucalypts in Australia and Tasmania). H.I. Renier. pp. 125. Direction de l'Agriculture du Ministère des Colonies. Brussels. 1953.
The author participated in the Eucalyptus Study Tour arranged by FAO in Australia in 1952, seeking information on eucalypts for adaptation in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. He devotes several chapters to conditions in Australia: physical geography, geology and soils; climatology; vegetation; silvicultural methods emphasizing natural regeneration, and reforestation; the special characteristics of eucalypts and the wood-using industries based on this genus. The book is well illustrated and contains a useful eight page bibliography.
CHECK LIST OF NATIVE AND NATURALIZED TREES OF THE UNITED STATES (INCLUDING ALASKA). E.L. Little Jr., Agriculture Handbook No. 41. U.S. Forest Service. pp. 472. Washington D. C. 1953. U.S. $2.00.
Prepared under the direction of the U.S. Forest Service Tree and Range Plant Name Committee, this publication is the latest revision of the cheek list first prepared by G.B. Sudworth in 1898, and revised by him in 1927.
The present revisions are based on the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature which was adopted by the Seventh International Botanical Congress at Stockholm in 1950. The check list includes 77 families, 262 genera, 866 species, 61 varieties and 101 hybrids or a total of 1,027 species, varieties and hybrids.
The simple rules applied in the preparation of this list, if followed by foresters and botanists in all countries, would do much to reduce the confusion which now exists in the naming of trees and commercial timbers.
VEGETATION AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT. E.A. Colman. pp. 412 Ronald Press Company. New York. 1963. U.S. $7.00.
One of a series of research studies sponsored by the Conservation Foundation of New York City, dealing with complementary aspects of the national water resources, this book brings together and analyzes current knowledge on the relationship of vegetation and its management to flood control, water supply and soil erosion.
Findings under one set of conditions cannot be transferred safely to other conditions, even though broadly similar. Much of the research to date has dealt with extreme conditions such as the steep, brush-covered mountains of southern California, or extreme treatments of vegetation, such as removal of forest, gross and prolonged overgrazing, and the practice of hill agriculture. At the other end of the scale, for example in the case of gently sloping lands, permeable soils and non-harmful uses again a good deal is known.
It is in between that major gaps of knowledge exist. What, for example, is the degree of grazing that will maintain a percentage of plant cover sufficient to protect water and soil values? Or what systems and intensities of timber harvesting may improve water yield through reducing interception and prolonging snow melt? Or where and how may fire be used to change brush to grass without major damage to water yield and soil?
The present study contains much useful information on these and similar broad problems, the techniques adapted to different purposes and conditions, and the relations between the various sciences involved in this very wide field.
A METHOD OF ESTIMATING TIMBER VOLUMES FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS. M.J. Ferree. pp. 60. State University of New York, College of Forestry, Syracuse. 1963. U.S. $1.00.
Reviewing briefly the historical background of the technological developments and procedures of photogrammetry, the author emphasizes recently-developed methods whereby timber volume-per-acre classifications can be made from aerial photographs.
The publication has, as its principal objectives:
(1) appreciation of historical development;
(2) comprehension of the role of statistics;
(3) knowledge of application of techniques;
(4) a proper understanding and respect for degrees of accuracy.
Emphasis is placed throughout on the ease of application of the techniques in order to overcome resistance to the use of aerial photography in timber cruising.
The author studied the use of infra-red and panchromatic film on two scales, 1:16,000 and 1:20,000. He points out that more experimental work is required on the type of photographic film and filter combinations, the season of year for taking photographs and photographic scales, and looks forward to such new developments as use of color film, and a wider employment of the helicopter in forest survey.
The booklet is recommended to all foresters concerned with survey and timber estimating, especially in temperate regions. A similar publication for tropical forest conditions is greatly needed.
TIMBER: ITS STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES (3rd edition). H. E. Desch. pp. 360. Macmillan and Company Ltd., London. 1963. 25s.
The third edition of this well-known handbook, originally published in 1937, is a useful, condensed encyclopaedia of timber technology with the stress mainly on wood anatomy and wood preservation, which are the author's special fields of investigation. The other sections of the book covering the properties and utilization of wood have been brought up-to-date and results of new investigations have been added.
EL SECADO DE MADERAS EN ESTUFA (Kiln Drying of Wood). A. Parra, G. Borgo, F. Valdés. 1963. pp. 119. Asociación Mexicana de Profesionistas Forestales, A.C. Mexico.
Latin-American countries are somewhat lacking in both general and specialized forestry literature, so that anyone interested in the field often must have recourse to foreign works and sources of information, usually in a language other than Spanish. This booklet is published as one step towards remedying the situation.
Mexican forest industries are paying increased attention to the drying of wood in kilns. With the great variety in local climates, ranging from arid desert to humid tropical, kiln drying of timber is of great importance to producing better quality seasoned products for consumer markets. Once the home market has been supplied, kiln drying will also help Mexico to export good-quality dressed lumber and wood products.
AN ATLAS OF END-GRAIN PHOTOMICROGRAPHS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF HARDWOODS. Forest Products Research Bulletin No. 26. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research pp. 87. Her Majesty's Stationery Office London. 1963. 12s. 6d.
Consisting of almost 400 photomicrographs showing the structure of timbers, this bulletin is intended for use in conjunction with Bulletin No. 26, Identification of Hardwoods: A Lens Key. Readers who are not in a position to verify the identification of timbers from the key by comparing samples with authentic specimens, should find comparison with the photomicrographs in the present publication useful.
The features used for identification in Bulletin No. 26 include the character of the pores, the presence of soft tissue, and growth rings, and the species are grouped accordingly. The appropriate photomicrographs are readily traced through the comprehensive index.
ADHESIVES FOR WOOD. R.A.J. Knight. pp. 242. Tudor Publishing Co., Inc. New York. 1962. U.S. $5.00.
This monograph assembles results of extensive investigations carried out by the Forest Products Research Laboratory, Princes Risborough, by the Research and Development of Materials Branch of the Ministry of Supply, and by the author himself. It describes and classifies the principal adhesives according to their durability, and then proceeds to discuss gluing techniques and methods of testing. With its good selective bibliography this publication is valuable as a work of reference for both the professional man and the student.
WOOD PRESERVATION (second edition). G. M. Hunt and G. A. Garratt. pp. 417. McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc. New York. 1963. U.S. $7.50.
This second edition, as was the first, is intended to serve both as a text for students in forestry and engineering and as a reference volume for those engaged in the wood preserving industry, for purchasing agents and engineers concerned with the use of wood, and for others interested in the development and promotion of new materials and methods of treatment.
Since the appearance of the first edition in 1938 there have been many developments in practically all aspects of wood preservation, and a large amount of new technical data has been published by the numerous agencies and individuals working in the field. It has been the aim of the authors to incorporate the significant material contained in this mass of new information, at the same time retaining the discussion of fundamental principles and essential facts contained in the earlier volume.
RESEARCH IN THE ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. William A. Duerr and Henry J. Vaux, editors. pp. 476. Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry Foundation. Washington. 1963. U.S. $6.00.
The main feature of a project financed by the Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry Foundation and sponsored by the Society of American Foresters, this commendable work has a dual object: to define the economies of forestry as a field of organized knowledge and to explore the methods of forest economics as a field of research.
The introduction describes forest economics as a science rapidly developed during the last half-century but still immature. This immaturity has three aspects. First, the content or scope of the field has yet to be clarified, second, its function is as yet imperfectly recognized; and third, its research method remains unsystematized.
The editors claim that forestry has three characteristics which serve to distinguish it in economic terms from the great bulk of activities covered by the general term, economics.
First, forests have far longer production periods than are commonly encountered in other lines of economic activity. "Long-run" supply and demand adjustments, which in many agricultural and industrial commodity markets may take place within a period of very few years, in a timber market may require a minimum of several decades before they make themselves felt. Economic imperfections and lags in response may therefore constitute some of the most important and critical problems of forestry.
Second, standing timber plays a role in production economics which is rare among economic goods. Much standing timber is considered alternatively as either capital plant or finished product. This dual economic role can be analyzed only by methods which are not commonly applied elsewhere in economics.
Third, a substantial proportion of the values produced by the forest are not directly measured by existing markets. (It is important to note that this does not necessarily mean that these values are not measurable in monetary terms or their equivalent). This is partly a result of the particular institutional environment within which it has been customary to provide certain forest services, such as recreation, outside the conventional market framework, and partly because certain forest values, such as watershed protection, can be measured only indirectly, through rather complex analysis.
The function of forest economics research, therefore, is to provide Owners, administrators, legislators, and the general public with a basis for intelligent decisions on the economic aspects of managing forest lands and utilizing their products and services.
RESOURCES AND THE AMERICAN DREAM (including a Theory of the Limit of Growth). Samuel H. Ordway, Jr. pp. 55. Ronald Press Company. New York. 1953. U.S. $2.00.
The "American dream" as described by the author, who has also written A Conservation Hand book is the idea of a constantly increasing level of living resulting from improved technology applied to abundant raw materials to produce all types of products as required by a growing population. His theory of the limit of growth is, however, that raw materials should be consumed only in relation to the possibility of replacing them.
Foresters will recognize this as another way of applying the principle of sustained yield to all resources. Deploring the idea that nations "have always been more interested in sawmills than seedlings", the author emphasizes that the forester's contribution to the problem should be to establish sustained yield at an increasingly high level by improving growth rates through good silviculture. The application to non-renewable resources may be difficult in that serious economic adjustments may be necessary; but this can be done, the author believes, under American conditions on a voluntary basis through adjusting consumption to supply by carefully differentiating between wants and needs. Foresters will welcome his advocacy of land use planning through the close co-operation of technologists and governmental policy makers.
FRESH WATER FROM THE OCEAN. Cecil B. Ellis. pp. 217. Ronald Press Company. New York. 1964. U.S. $6.00.
This readily understandable book on a complex subject will be of interest to research workers in forestry and agriculture; it is an example of systematic analysis of the practical possibilities of drawing fresh water from the ocean which could bring about a complete change in the way of life of inhabitants of arid regions. The staff of Nuclear Development Associates Inc. have come to the conclusion that 1,000 million gallons (3,786 million liters) per day would irrigate an area of land about 18 square miles (4,660 ha.) at a cost of not more than 30 cents per thousand gallons (3,786 liters) at a cheap power location.
The book concludes that for certain cities and industries the general price level of 30 cents per thousand gallons would be within financial reach where no cheaper source of fresh water was available. For large irrigation projects, however, where the costs are to be borne by the products of the soil alone, it is doubtful whether any extraction method so far suggested is suitable from an economic standpoint, and much further research is needed to develop cheaper methods.
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THE OXFORD SYSTEM OF DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION FOR FORESTRY Authorized English Version Prepared by the Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography in collaboration with the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau, Oxford, England, and recommended by the Conference of FAO and the Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations for adoption by member countries.
Copies may be obtained on direct application to:
Price: 10s. 0d. per copy, post free; interleaved copies 12s. 6d., post free. |
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Two New Forestry Publications LES EUCALYPTUS DANS LES REBOISEMENTS (EUCALYPTS FOR PLANTING) FAO Forestry and Forest Products Study No. 11 One of the most versatile tree groups for the creation of new forests has been the genus Eucalyptus. The present monograph by a recognised authority sums up for foresters the highlights of world experience to date with this important genus. It summarizes available material on botanical and sylvical characteristics, nursery and planting methods, and technological properties and uses. English Edition in Preparation. - Price: $3.50, 17s. 6d. DU CHOIX DE TRACTEURS POUR LE DÉBARDAGE (TRACTORS FOR LOGGING) FAO Forestry Development Paper No. 1 The aim of this paper, prepared as part of the work of the Joint Working Party on Logging Techniques and Training of Forest Workers of FAO and ECE is to give guidance in the choice of tractor types particularly for the extraction and hauling of timber under various conditions. Calculations for ground conditions and gradient, and methods for determining cost prices per unit are included. Price: $2.00, 10s. 0d. |
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FAO's FORESTRY STATISTICAL SERVICE EUROPEAN TIMBER TRENDS AND PROSPECTS, 1953. 315 pp. In English an French $3.05,25s. This joint FAO/ECE study immediately ran into a second edition when it was published in the spring of 1953 and is still the basic study for all those interested in forestry policy in Europe for the next decade. YEARBOOK OF FOREST PRODUCTS STATISTICS, 1953. 1954, 153 pp., (Trilingual) $2,50, 12s. 6d. This brings last year's issue up to date, and the layout of the tables has been improved to present the facts with greater clarity. TIMBER STATISTICS FOR THE YEARS 1946-47, 1948, 40 pp., (Bilingual). $0,50, 2s. 6d Prepared jointly by FAO and the Economic Commission for Europe. Available only from United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. TIMBER STATISTICS. Quarterly Bulletin, 1948-1950 (to date), 44 pp., (Bilingual). Annual subscription $2.00 10s. Prepared jointly by FAO and the Economic Commission for Europe. Available only from Sales Section, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Contains timber market reports for most of the countries of Europe. |
