Treesearch

Anyone acquainted with the conversion of hardwood trees into wood products knows that timber has a wide range in quality. Some trees will yield better products than others. So, in addition to rate of growth and size, tree values are affected by the quality of products yielded.

Certain minor diseases were prominent this year, probably a reflection of the influence of the abundant and well-distributed rainfall that occurred throughout the growing season.

Pruning to obtain clear wood on the lower portion of forest trees has been practiced on a limited scale for many years. It became an important operation in the management of national forests after the enactment of the Knutson-Vandenberg Act in 1930. This act provided a means for retaining a portion of timber-sale receipts to finance pruning and other stand improvement work on national forest land. The Forest Service has used K-V deposits in certain areas to expand the pruning program to insure a future supply of highgrade lumber and veneer.

The northern hardwood stands of the Adirondack region of New York constitute a major natural resource, the basis of one of the few year-round industries of the area. However, knowledge of their silviculture and potential productivity is limited. The results of an exploratory study begun in 1938 provide some information about the problems involved in the management of northern hardwoods in the Adirondarks.

The Third Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Conference culminated the activities of the Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Committee and offered an opportmity to report on committee work for the past biennium. It also provided an important means for the Committee to meet its major objective - the encouraging and coordinating of forest tree improvement activities in the region. The Proceedings makes the Conference a matter of record availabbe to all who are interested in reading it, and the Committee is indeed grateful to the Lake States Forest Experiment Station for publishing it.

Beech is one of our more common hardwoods. It is an important component of the northern hardwood forest type, which occupies about 29 percent of the commercial forest land in the New England and Middle Atlantic States. In terms of total sawtimber volume, beech follows close on sugar maple, red oak, and yellow birch. It is used for a variety of products such as furniture, handles, flooring, containers, dowels, shuttles, and spools. In recent years, more beech has been used in woodpulp production; and with new processing techniques, it may become even more valuable for pulp. For these...

Are pines the only coniferous trees suitable for pruning in the Northeast, or is it feasible to prune red spruce as well? Although red spruce is an important lumber species in the spruce-fir region, it is seldom pruned because of its relatively slow rate of growth.

Two small woodlands, put under management at the Penobscot Experimental Forest in the early 1950's, have yielded continuous annual cuts. The two woodlands, in the spruce-fir type, were selected to be representative of small forest properties in that region.

The use of ground covers in crawl-space under houses is now widely accepted by builders, maintenance men, and home owners. Such covers are practical for reducing decay in subfloor timbers. They also effectively prevent soil moisture from moving upward into the house, and thus aid in preventing swelling and buckling of floors.

In 1939 a test of four spacings in planting loblolly pine seedlings was begun in an abandoned field on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The spacings were 4, 5.7, 8, and 11.3 feet between trees; each spacing was replicated on four 100-footsquare plots. In the 4- and 8-foot spacings, rows and trees within rows were 4 or 8 feet apart, with trees opposite in adjoining rows. In the other two spacings, trees in adjoining rows were staggered. .Trees 8 feet apart staggered in rows 4 feet apart gave the 5.7-foot spacing; trees 16 feet apart in rows 8 feet apart gave the 11.3-foot spacing.