Treesearch

Previous observations of the establishment of yellow birch have cited the importance of mixed humus-mineral soil seedbeds. Godman and Krefting pointed out that both germination and growth were enhanced. Subsequent studies have shown that while germination in the absence of competition is adequate on mineral soil of a Podzol A under a wide variety of light and moisture conditions, growth is uniformly poor. On humus, good growth was obtained but adequate germination occurred only in part of the environments tested. This Note reports the growth response of yellow birch seedlings grown on...

Demand for Lake States pulpwood gained strength in 1965, but production failed to rise. Adverse weather during part of the year and a general shortage of woods labor were deterrents to a larger harvest. The total pulpwood cut was 3,636,000 cords in 1965, representing very little change over the level of the 2 previous years. The tempo of pulpwood activities started leveling off in 1964; until then the pulpwood cut in the Lake States had been increasing about 10 percent annually.

The expanded Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system was opened in the early spring of 1959, and for the first time deep-draft ocean-going vessels could visit inland Great Lakes ports. In 1963 the Station published a Research Note reporting what effect this expansion may have had on the volume of forest products moving through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan ports; data were shown for overseas commerce for 1957 to 1961. The current Note presents information on all overseas imports and exports of forest products moving through Upper Lakes ports, including the port of Chicago, for 1954 to...

Aspen, Minnesota's largest forest type, covers nearly one-third of the commercial forest land in the State. Its major components are bigtooth aspen, P. tremuloides, both fast-growing, generally short-lived, aggressive pioneer species that readily become established in burns and clear cuttings. They cannot be "stored on the stump," as they become decadent rapidly after reaching maturity. Their wood is technically identical.

Blue spruce (Picea pungens Engelm.) has been planted quite extensively in North Dakota shelterbelts and farmstead windbreaks. Generally survival and growth have been promising, but there is considerable variation in performance of individual trees or plantations. Poorly adapted seed sources have been suspected as one cause for poor performance. There should be interest, therefore, in the results of a study designed to test the growth, survival, and resistance to climatic agents of seven known seed sources of blue spruce after 5 years in the field.

In 1959 and 1962 the Minnesota Division of Forestry and the North Central Forest Experiment Station established a series of tests to determine the effectiveness of several herbicides in maintaining firebreaks free of vegetation. The primary objectives of these tests were to determine: (1) how long one application of soil sterilant can keep firebreaks satisfactorily free of vegetation and (2) how much chemical firebreak maintenance will cost. The tests continue a study on chemical firebreak maintenance which began in 1955.

An investigation to determine the quantity and density of forest floor fuels in red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) stands was conducted on National Forests in Michigan and Minnesota. The study was designed to answer three questions: How much fuel per acre exits in individual layers of the forest floor? How reliably can weight of forest floor fuels be estimated from specific stand characteristics? What is the density of individual layers of the forest floor?

Sapstreak, a killing disease of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), caused by the fungus Ceratocystis coerulescens (Munch) Bakshi, was first described by hepting in 1944 in North Carolina. It was reported in the Lake States by Kessler and Anderson in 1960 and in the Northeast by Houston and Fisher in 1964. It has also been found on occasional yellow-poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) in scattered locations in Tennessee and North Carolina (Roth et al. 1959). In 1963, Ohman and Kessler reported several new cases in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including one stand in which the incidence...

As a major pulp and paper production area, the Lake States is a potential market for pulpwood chips. As a producer of solid wood products, it has a considerable potential for the production of pulpwood chips from coarse sawmill residues (slabs, edgings, and trim) and other sources. Only a small amount of the available residues, however, is now being utilized. In response to numerous inquiries about pulp chips and sawmill residues, a study was begun on their production and marketing as well as any problem aspects that might require additional research. This note is a preliminary report.

The northern hardwoods type occupies about 16 percent -- 8.2 million acres -- of the commercial forest land in the Lake States. The timber has high unit values and represents about 42 percent of the total value of all the commercial forest in the region. Increasing values and markets for northern hardwoods in recent years have stressed the need for better quality in the finished product. Industry, therefore, is vitally iinterested in clear material, particularly for veneers and furniture stock and even for the relatively new use of the denser hardwoods for pulp. This interest, in turn, has...