Treesearch

THE FORESTER'S JOB, if he is concerned with producing tree crops, is to grow the large t volume of the most valuable species. Thus, in practically every timber r egion in the United States, foresters encounter the problem of limiting the growth of less valued species which inhibit high production of the preferred species. Often these less desired species are utterly worthless and are referred to simply as "brush. " F or example, laurel and rhododendron slicks cover vast areas in the Southern Appalachians that could produce valued tree crops. Yaupon in East Texas, hazel brush and alder in...

Forest fire control in the Northeast is a bigger and more responsible job than most people realize. State , Federal, and other agencies cur­ rently spend some 6 millions of dollars in prevention efforts and in sup­pressing the 15 or 16 thousand fires that burn each year. There is good reason, therefore, to deve lop better and more uniform method s of damage appraisal so that the total fire bill--cost plus loss--can be determined with greater accuracy. It is only thus that the value of present and planned protection can b estimated.

In a study in north central Mississippi, the litter and surface soil under even-aged eastern redcedar, loblolly pine, and adjacent herbaceous cover varied chemically, physically, and biologically. There are good grounds for belief that soil rehabilitation proceeds faster under redcedar than under herbaceous or loblolly pine cover.

Forest plantations in north central Mississippi and western Tennessee can produce merchantable timber on much land which erosion has made useless for other crops Forest plantings usually can decrease, stop, or forestall erosion economically. This paper describes the most important sites in the area, predicts what may be expected if they are planted to trees, and suggests the tree species and planting procedures most likely to succeed. The opinions and conclusions are based on field observations during the past three years. The majority of these observations were made during detailed study...

Do bottomland hardwood forests respond to improvement cuts? Do growth rate and stand quality increase enough to make up for the extra effort and, sometimes, outright expense of improvement cutting? Ten years of growth on some plots on the Delta Experimental Forest near Stoneville, Mississippi, indicates that the answer to both questions is "yes".

This article reports early changes in growth rate brought about by partial cutting in two bottomland hardwood stands. Better information will be forthcoming as re-measurements are made over longer periods. Indications are, however, that the acceleration of growth caused by release is large enough to be a vital factor in planning future cuts.

Foresters ahve long recognized the need for a better method of appraising standing timber in terms of quality as well as volume of lumber that trees may be expected to produce. Because the range in price between high-grade lumber and low-grade lumber is extremely wide, a stand of high-quality timber is much more valuable than a low-quality stand. In spite of this, estimating methods commonly used today give little consideration to quality

Early, effects of partial cutting on diameter growth in bottomland hardwood forests have been measured recently near Vance, Mississippi, according to a report by J. W. Johnson of the Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.

Of the more common woods native to the South, the heartwood of osageorange (bois d'arc), black locust, red mulberry, cedar, and baldcypress is most desirable and makes good fence posts without any preservative treatment. The heartwood of other southern tree species, and all sapwood is much less durable and will give only a few years of service when used for fence posts unless treated with a preservative. When properly treated, however, there is little to choose between different species