Treesearch

The technique of growing tree seedlings in plastic greenhouses is being evaluated for red pine, jack pine, white spruce, and yellow birch at the Chittenden Nursery in northern Lower Michigan. Both a long growing season and a normal-length growing season in plastic greenhouses were compared with standard outdoor nursery beds (control). First-year results showed that germination and survival of red pine and jack pine were significantly higher in the greenhouses than in the control. Also, for red pine, the long growing season was superior to the other greenhouse treatments and the control....

After five growing seasons on a southwest Missouri outplanting site, trees from a West Virginia eastern redcedar source had better survival, form, vigor, and height growth than trees from eight other sources tested. The local Missouri source, handicapped at planting by an unfavorable top:root ration, is now growing vigorously.

The growth, development, and sporulation of white pine blister rust cankers were studied on eastern white pine in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Three district canker types were identified on the basis of physical appearance, growth rate, and sporulation. Canker growth rate and sporulation decreased as tree size or age increased, and many cankers apparently became inactive. high mortality of branch cankers was associated with older trees, heavily stocked stands, and small branch diameter.

A snow accumulation study was conducted in a 33-year-old red pine plantation thinned to different stocking levels. Snowpack water content increased an average of 2 percent for each 10 square feet of basal area reduction, within the range of 60 to 180 square feet of basal area. Reducing plantation stocking from 180 to 60 square feet of basal area per acre would result in 1.4 to 1.9 inches of additional water in a winter when 6 to 8 inches of precipitation were received.

Describes the current usage of prescribed fire in the Lake States. Costs are summarized for each purpose and reasons for cost differences are discussed.

This twenty-third annual report shows that the 1968 Lake States pulpwood output dropped to about 3 1/2 million cords from about 4 million cords in 1967. Michigan's roundwood harvest dropped 198,000 cords in 1968, while the Wisconsin and Minnesota harvests each fell more than 125,000 cords. Pulpwood receipts fell 1/2 million cords below the 1967 level in Wisconsin, but remained steady in Minnesota and Michigan.

A water-filled plastic tube buried vertically in the soil in a copper casing permitted repeated observation of frost depth without damaging the sampling site. The device is simple and inexpensive and provides data on soil freezing at least as accurate as direct observation by digging through frozen soil.

This report is based on a canvass of all pulpmills in the Northeast that use wood-either round wood or chips-as a basic raw material for a variety of products. Mills that use woodpulp as a raw material for insulation board and hardboard were also included in the canvass. However, the canvass did not include mills that use waste paper, rags, or pulping material other than wood. And it did not include hardboard plants that impregnate wood flour, flakes, or chips with glues or resins in manufacturing their products.

This paper describes a computer program that calculates National Fire Danger Rating Indexes. fuel moisture, buildup index, and drying factor are also available. The program is written in FORTRAN and is usable on even the smallest compiler.

More than 300,000 acres have been strip-mined for coal in the Anthracite and Bituminous Regions of Pennsylvania—most of this since World War II. And an additional 10,000 to 15,000 acres are strip-mined each year. Since 1945 coal operators have been required to revegetate the areas disturbed by mining. Although the primary purpose of revegetation is to provide permanent cover for stabilization and protection, the spoil areas are also potentially good for timber and wildlife production.