Treesearch

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...

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.

This is a report on the genetic differences observed among seedlings of four seed collections of Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii var. shumardii) during the first 2 years of growth. It is based on data from replicated seedbed and nursery plots at the Michaux Quercetum.

Excellent control of the white-pine weevil in young white pine plantations, by applying concentrated lead arsenate spray with knapsack sprayers, was demonstrated and reported several years ago. Since then, research has shown that a number of newer insecticides, used as emulsions, are also very effective.

Forest tree seed crops were generally poor in 1957 throughout New England, according to reports by observers. Late spring frosts and below-normal precipitation were probably responsible for poor or failing crops of some species.

This is a report on the timber resource of New Jersey. It is based on the findings of a forest survey made in 1955-56 by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic Development. The forest survey of New Jersey was part of a nationwide survey being made by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. NOTE: this document was scanned from a personal copy and contains hand-written notes.

The one event of 1957 that most affected the forest insect and disease picture in the Northeast was the severe drought. The drought was most serious in New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula; eastern Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York; and central and southern New England. Its duration was generally from mid-May to mid-August. With an area from New York to Philadelphia taken as a center, drought severity decreased going northward and westward from the broad coastal belt.