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Hardwood Dealers of South Elated Over Research Fund
Washington, D. C., June 25.-The signature of President Hoover to the Federal Agricultural Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal vear assures to silvicultural-research in the southern hardwood forests an appropriation of $10,500 for the initiation of important work on July l. With this fund will begin a comprehensive study of the timber growth and yields that may be obtained from the southern bottom lands enabling timber owners to judge their productive capacity and plan accordingly. The work will give authoritative information on the time required to produce a crop of timber and the yields that can be obtained at various ages and under various forms of silvicultural treatment. An incidental part of the work will be a series of tables which will show the contents of standing trees of different spec,ies in terms of board feet, cubic -feet, and cords. Because of 'the complexity of the problem, due to the large number of species and forest types, the variation in growing,conditions and the lumbering practices employ- ed the work will require several years for completion.
This study of hardwood growth and yields is considered, according to E. L. Demmon, director of the Southern Forest Experiment Station, as the most urgent of the many problems involved in the scientific management of tl-re southern hardwood forests. Other problems must await the securing of additional funds.
In a letter from Henry E. Hardtner, president of the Urania Lumber Company, and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Forestry Congress, Inc., to 9"_9.-T, Houston, its retiring president, hJexpresses his belief that the next most important hardwood prob,lem is the determination of the methods of cutting which will insure satisfactory natural reforestation. "This will be exceedingly difficult to solve", he says, "because of the large number of species, forest types, and soils, the rank growth of subordinate vegetation, and such other conditions as periodic overflow from floods, etc. Nothing can be begun on this latter problem until its importance ls called to the attention of the Congress. In the meantime, we should take satisfaction from the fact that it will be possible to make a start on hardwood silvicultural studies ne<t July 1st."
The hardwood interests of the lower Missisaippi Valley have been working for over. two years. to secuie Federal appropriation to conduct studies of growth and yield in southern hardwood forests, particularly of the lowland type. As a result of an active campaign for this appropriati,on and general support on the part of the members of the Senate and House from that region, the appropriation was included in the Agricultural Appropriatibn Bill recently passed.
N. H. PARSONS RETURNS FROM EASTERN TRIP
N. H. Parsons, sales department, San Pedro Lumber Co., Los Angeles, has returned from a three weeks' trip in the East where he accompanied Mrs. Parsons, and their son Vinc_ent, who graduated from Oc,cidental College in June, to Montreal where they embarked on a three monthsi tour of Europe. While in the East, Mr. Parsons visited New York City, various points in Massachusetts, Chicago, and f.ockford, Illinois, where he operated a retail lumber busirress for .many years before coming to California.
Before returning to Los Angeles, he also spent a few days in San Francisco calling on his lurhbermen friends. He returneil to Los Angeles on July 8.
The National Lumber Manufacturers Association through its trade extension campaign is exerting its power towards a strengthening of the lumber market and making possible reasonable operating profits in order to create an increasing incentive for prolonging and perpetuating the life of the hardwood industry through reforestation. Commercial practice of forestry, and the consequent prolonga- tion of the life of the haidwood lumber industry, will-in turn create an increased incentive for supporting hardwood trade promotion activities. In the course of the various interviews and conferences bv field men of the N. L. M. A. concerning the proposed hardwood growth study, a number of cases of proven profitable regrowth were cited. Such cases divide themselves into three classes: (1) Second growth on abandoned farm lands, which has produced a merchantable ,crop of timber of known amount and value, as determined by reliable estimates or actual cut, within a known period of years; (2) Cut-over hardwood timber Iands which were logged first by something approaching a selective cutting system and have since then pioduced a second crop of known amount and value, as determined by reliable estimates or actual cut. within a definite known period of years. Commenting on this second class, Forester Franklin W. Reed, of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, believes it important in examples of this sort to differentiate between that portion of the second crop which has actually grown since the first cutting and that portion which was left standing at the time of the first cutting and has since become merchantable because of changes in standards.of utilization. "ff the first cutting and the second estimate or,cutting are based on the same minimum diameter limit, probably for the purpose in hand," says Mr. Reed, "the whole of the second can be credited to growth. If,'in the second cutting or estimate, the diameter limit is lower, that much of the new crop must be credited to changes in utilization standards." (3) Hardwood timber lands under forest management, whose owners, by experiment and investigation, have become convinced that it is profitable for them to encourage the regrowth of their hardwood timber.
Other increases in appropriation have been granted to the Souttrern Forest Experiment Station which provide for $10,000 for investigations of the relationships between fire and resin yields in naval stores operations: $10,000 for in. vestigations of methods of cutting to insure natural reforestation in second growth yellow pine stands and $25,000 for the initiation of a forest survey in the Southern Hardwood Region. I
A. C. HORNER BACK FROM NORTHWEST
A. C. Ilorner, manager of the Western division of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, returned to San Francisco recently from a two weeks' tour of Northwest cities. He visited Portland and Pendleton, Oregon; Seattle and Yakima, Washington, and Boise, Idaho, holding consultation with various building code committees which are contemplating either the adoption of new building codes or amendments to their existing codes.
