Treesearch

Though the "cord" is used as a standard unit of measure for stacked wood, there is much confusion as to what a cord is and how it can be properly converted to other units of measure. The amount of solid wood in a pile varies greatly depending on the size, straightness, and evenness of the material in the pile, and also on the closeness of stacking.

Owners of eastern white pine stands suffer financially in several ways from attacks by the white-pine weevil (Pissodes strobi). Crooks, forks, and other weevil-caused tree-bole deformities increase bucking, logging, and sawing costs, and they reduce recoverable volumes. The injuries also reduce the average value of the lumber recovered. It is only with this reduction in the value of lumber produced that this report deals.

Should loblolly pine seed trees be left to grow for many years, or should they be harvested as soon as adequate amounts of reproduction have started? What should be done with the trees too small for sawlogs: should they be cut for pulpwood, or will they develop into high-quality stems? From a study started in 1951 and previously described (4) we now have indicative answers to these questions for old-field loblolly stands on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

In 1951 a 30-acre mature stand of loblolly pine on Maryland's Eastern Shore was cut, leaving 10 pine seed trees per acre; and three different methods of seedbed preparation were tried on experimental plots within the stand. Besides a control plot, which was only logged, the plot treatments included: (a) pulling a stump with a small bulldozer before cutting, followed by a late-summer fire after cutting; (b) pulling a Ranger Pal plow with the same bulldozer before cutting; and (c) using a late-summer fire after cutting. Since tractor treatments (a and b above) were restricted to creating...

Seeding of grass and other herbaceous cover is a recognized method of reducing soil washing on old logging roads, trails, decks, and other disturbed areas. It is done to protect the quality of water supplies and, in the case of roads that are to be used again, to preserve them for use during the next logging operation. The successful use of chaff (from local harvest operations) to do this on the Fernow Experimental Forest near Parsons, W. Va. has been reported.

This is the seventh report on a series of studies to show the relationship of stump diameter to diameter breast high (d. b. h.) for commercially important tree species in the Northeast. This report is for pitch pine (Pinus rigida).

This is the eighth report on a series of studies to show the relationship of stump diameter to diameter breast high (d.b.h.) for commercially important tree species in the Northeast. This report is for white oak (Quercus alba).

The presence of red rot (Fomes pini) in pruned white pine stands has often been attributed to the act of pruning. This assumption may well be true for heavily stocked stands where thinning has been neglected and pruning scars are slow to heal. The question then arises: How do we account for the red rot often found in vigorous unpruned white pine stands? Evidence collected in connection with a white pine log-grade study at the Pack Demonstration Forest at Warrensburg, N.Y., strongly suggests that the white pine weevil was responsible for much of the red rot found in the trees examined.

As individual eastern white pine trees grow taller, are they less susceptible to attack by the white pineweevil? At what height are they most likely to be attacked?

The amount of hardwood planting stock used in forest tree plantations in the United States is very small indeed. The great bulk of planting stock used is softwood. Wallihan (4) points out that there are several good reasons for this. First of all is the greater demand for softwood forest products. Another is the fact, often demonstrated in the past, that softwoods are much easier to establish than hardwoods. It is also well known that volume (but not necessarily value) yields from hardwood forests are considerably lower than those from softwood stands. As a result, the culture of hardwoods...