Treesearch

As part of a research project on Christmas trees being carried on by the USDA Forest Service's Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, the author made a cooperative study of how discolored needles recover their normal color in February and April. Though this does not solve the Christmas tree growers' problem, it does shed some light on the process involved in the discoloration. The study confirmed that the seasonal yellowing of the needles is due primarily to the loss of chlorophyll and, conversely, that a sharp increase in chlorophyll concentration accompanies the return to summer green.

In a study of trees grown from seed obtained from 16 regions throughout the natural range of white pine (Pinus strobus L.), the best Christmas tree qualities were found in trees grown from seed that came from the Appalachian Mountain regions and from lower Michigan.

Rates at which Eastern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) are exploited in areas open to public hunting may be useful guides for designing fall hunting seasons that are biologically defensible. However, there is a question whether the harvest of fox squirrels by public hunting will even occasionally be great enough to challenge the limit allowed by the best designed biologically sound hunting season. There seems to be a population level of squirrels-as yet undefined-that strongly resists further exploitation of its members by hunting, thereby preventing overexploitation.

The newly developed SHOLO (from SHOrt Log) process can be used to convert low-grade hardwood logs into parts for standard warehouse pallets and pulp chips. Should you build a SHOLO mill? This paper has been prepared to help you decide.

Until recently, conversion of hardwood stands on poor sites to white pine (Pinus strobus L.) was limited mostly to natural white pine reproduction released from a hardwood overstory, either by killing the hardwoods or by removing them through a timber sale. However, in our effort to increase the returns from poor sites in West Virginia (oak site index 45 to 60) we have been introducing white pine where advanced natural white pine is scarce or absent. The results of several conversion studies completed during the past 6 years and the results of pertinent research conducted elsewhere are...

Initial installation cost, annual maintenance cost, and total long-term cost are important in the purchase of flooring products. Before deciding on a flooring material, the prudent buyer will consider each of these in relation to his personal desires. From these evaluations, he will then be able to select the flooring material that is best suited to his individual needs. In an attempt to help alleviate this problem, we recently conducted a study to obtain unbiased information about the various flooring materials used under residential conditions.

Hardwood trees have for many years been measured in such a way that tree volume could be estimated; and in recent years the prediction of tree quality by using tree grades has become of interest to owners, sellers, and buyers of timber. Several tree-grading systems have been developed, but none has been publicized and used on a widespread scale. The Forest Service recently adopted and approved interim hardwood tree grades for factory lumber. The specifications for these tree grades and the associated lumber grade voluies for yellow birch, red maple, and black oak are presented here.

The configuration - the curvature and grade - of logging roads in southern Appalachia is seldom severe, according to a recent Forest Service study. To improve the efficiency of logging roads, we must first define the characteristics of these roads; and in this report we provide a quantitative description of the configuration of over 200 miles of logging roads.

Hauling costs are a major expense to lumbermen, but little is known about which factors affect hauling costs the most. A recent Forest Service study of hauling costs on 34 logging operations sheds light on whmich factors of cost are important and which might require less attention. These results should help lumbermen adopt a cost accounting procedure and help them with management decisions regarding roundwood transport.

A 1968 survey of campers revealed that one-half of the campers did more than three-fourths of all the reported camping. Campers in this heavy half of the camping market were found to differ significantly from light-half campers in their camping motivations, past experience, and investments in camping equipment (LdPage 1969). However, the 1968 survey identified heavy-half campers on the basis of a single year's (1967) participation and did not determine whether heavy-half campers consistently camped more than the average year after year. To better understand the heavy half of the camping...