the VOlce of 255.000 forest owners in New York representing an ownership of 11 million acres
Housing and Urban Developof 1968 was signed into law ident Johnson on August I, landmark legislation will enFarmers Home Administracreas e its rural hous ing pr 0assist almost 50 percent more The annual total will be rather than 55,000, and lowerfamilies will benefit," said ::-reeman, Secretary of Agri-
of rural Americans have _zr-:.d.L"cincome, and more than 50 of these families reside in ~Cil.::ldalXd housing. provision of the new legisthe authority it provides to Home Administration to =terest supplement payments 1lllllllCE.::lgloans for families with inmeet in full the on rural housing interest rates can be thus o as little as one percent. United States Department of ~wure, Washington, Ga., 1968)
FOR PEOPLE Y of Agriculture Orville says "In the pell mell
s for "a total national comby people and by govern-
ments at all levels to a basic national policy of conservation and use of resources for people; of local, area, regional and national planning- -and action--for people. "Political boundaries must cease tobe barriers to progress," the Secretary said in his prepared remarks. "The people in towns and counties that can't provide good schools or hospitals or other services must understand that they have no chance for a life of genuine quality unless they
band together in multi-county planning to pool the resources of the whole area for the good of all its parts. " Mr. Freeman observed that future generations will say of those who now stress conservation and development of human and natural res ources: "They showed us how to fashion fr om quantity a quality that kept a growing nation strong. " (Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, Ga .", August 21, 1968)
P LANTING: THE RIGHT TREE ON THE RIGHT SOIL The landowner considering planting may have many questions on "rights," but these generally resolve into three: What do I want the trees for? How much effort am I willing to put into establishment and care? What will soil and site permit? The first question can only be answered by the landowner. Timber harvests follow a long time after planting; many will be interested in the quicker payoff from Christmas trees, wildlife cover, woodland cover, year-around scenic values, and the sheer fun of growing things. Plantation species vary in form, foliage density and color throughout the year, as well as in rapidity of early growth. And trees do not have to be planted in solid blocks stretching from fence line to fence line. The landowner interested in lands cape values can fit plantation boundaries to lands cape contours, and can intermix irregular blocks of different spe c i e s , or of trees with openings or shrubs, according to his interests and his judgment of habitats.
The second question is cardinal for the landowner considering Christmas trees, or flirting with the idea of hardwood plantations , or dissatisfied with conventional recommendations. A Christmas tree plantation is a commitment to several years of pruning and brush control, as well as eventual marketing. Hardwood species of one kind or another will grow on many of our plantable soils. uniform establishment generally requires cultivation or other weed control; and satisfactory growth often requires dense planting, fertilization and/or protection of one sort or another. White pine is hardy, fast growing, and the most versatile as well as the tallest tree in the state; by all means plant it - if you are willing to provide some years of weevil and blister rust control. The third question leads to examination of landscape, soil pits and soil maps , and consideration of soil depth, drainage, acidity and fertility. The answer is a few absolute prohibi(continued
on next page)
tions and many conditional judgments. Native tree species are reasonably flexible and tough; otherwise, they would not have survived here in a competitive existence since the Ice Age. Nevertheles s, they differ in adaptation to s oil and the special demands of the old field environments. Matching species requirements to soil and habitat properties increases the long run performance of plantations, and reduces hazards or r equ ir ed care. Some of the information needed for this balancing act is contained in Cornell Extension Bulletin 1075 andamimeoed handout on planting site appraisal. - Excerpts fr om illustrated talk by Dr. Earl L. Stone, Jr., Department of Agronomy. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. presented at 6th Annual Meeting NYFOA, April 6, 1968, Syracuse, N. Y.
ÂŤ
HOW TO SELECT GOOD PLANTING SITES FOR YELLOW-POPLAR by Howard J. Doyle Council Forester HARDWOOD RESEARCH COUNCIL Statesville, N. C. IMPOR TANCE - Picking the right sites for planting is certainly one of the most important factors affecting the survival and growth of yellowpoplar. All of the time, effort and expense spent in the careful growing, handling and planting of the young trees may be wasted if the planting site is not suitable. Many past failures with this species can be traced directly to poor judgment in picking unsuitable planting sites. With the increasing demand for high quality hardwoods by the furniture, plywood and veneer industries, it is important that the right sites be selected if the planting project is to pay good returns. WHAT TO LOOK FOR-In general, rich, moist but well drained soil is the chief requirement-land that would yield at least 40 to 50 bushels of corn per acre if under cultivation. The cooler north and east facing slopes are preferred. At least four or more inches of rich top soil should be present. Land that is too poor to grow good agricultural crops, is too poor for good poplar growth. The soil must be reasonably moist. This naturally occurs in valleys and along streams, in coves, and on north slopes. However, it must also be well drained. Too much moisture, as found inheavy clays or during extended periods of ÂŁloodings, drowns the poplars.
CABINS FROM THINNINGS by Alex Dickson, Extension Forester, Cornell University From seedling to cabin in 35 years! Such is the proud record that can be claimed on a State Reforestation Area in Tompkins County, New York. The State Conservation Department and a private entrepreneur, working hand WOOD OILS Long before moth-proofing was known, wives of pioneers knew that chests made from red cedar wood gave protection for woollen clothing and blankets. The pleasant smell of this wood was apparently connected with a substance highly repulsive to insects. Red cedar, also called red juniper , was very common in eastern Canada 100years ago, buttoday it is a rather scarce species. Since cedar chests are still in demand, they are no longer made from solid red cedar, but only lined with a rather thin layer of this wood. Chemists have been working for many years on the identification of those substances which, although not major constituents of wood, contribute to properties like paintabilityand resistance to attack from decay organisms and insects. Many components of the es s ential oils from our conifer s have been identified and s orne of them are of industrial importance. The structure of the main componentinred cedar oil has not yet been fully elucidated. Once the chemical structure is known; the material might be obtained by chemical modification of related compounds which are more readily available. If this should prove feasible, woods other than red cedar might be impregnated with the pleasant odour and the mothrepellent properties which we associate with cedar chests. (Source: Research News, Dept. of Forestry and Rural Development Canada May-June, 1968) A close examination of the cover present on the land should be made before planting. If adequate seed trees are pr e s ent , it is quite possible that the area is already naturally established in poplars and other young trees of desirable species. Should an examination reveal ZOO or more healthy seedlings per acre, it is highly questionable from a practical standpoint if any further trees should be added to the area. Yellow-poplar will not stand too much shade. They should receive
in hand, are thinning crowded s of 60-foot larch to achieve a dual pose: increased space for future s tim ber development and sturdy, r tic cabins for recreationists. The lack of suitable markets softwood thinnings has posed a s handicap to proper plantation de opment in many parts of New Y Larch- -both from Europe and J initially promised useful fencing terial because of its reputed na durability when in contact with s oil. This dur ability is, howev only a property of heartwood which poor ly developed in younger, fa growing trees. Thus this promise largely been frustrated. Now it seems that the chance I combination of demand, availab of suitable material, and the pres of a willing and able processor pointing a way that could well be f lowed in other parts of the State. William Dean of Speeds ville had a lifetime of as s ociation with woods of his native Caroline Still an active maple sirup pro inseason, hehadto restrict his logging work a few years ago be of impaired physical ability. though, to spend as much time as- p sible in the forest, he contracted clear trees from rights-of-way the State. He was given the mater he cut for his own use, and with it built his first log cabin. A friend s he'd like one too, and so the bus' started and grew. Essentially ating at a local level, he has neve less sent cabin material as far as the Pennsylvania line to the s and Penn Yan, on Seneca Lake, to north. Small Family Sawmill A small sawmill that has been the family for many years is the cessing center. Here logs are s on either two or three sides, ing on whether the ins ide walls of cabins are to be rough some full sunlight. Cutover tracts or natural openi in the woods of 1/ Z acre or more give best results if the soil is r and moist but well drained. Poplars planted as a mixture black locust may generally be ed to grow better due to the nitr furnished them by the locusts. WARNING - Avoid dry, wor old fields or wet, boggy soils. extreme will give poor results. If doubt, consult the nearest forester agricultural worker for advice.
essesare6, 7or8 inches, a~d range randomly from 6 to 20 For a 24-by-24foot about 2500 lineal feet of log is providedfor $500. Larger need more logs and the cost, se, increases accordingly . • windows, floors and roofs are -=ovided. _=e thinning involves cutting out third row of trees completely :-1ective removal from amongst z ezrra irri ng trees. All trees are at breast height and at ground . y a forester of the State Con-="'~c..~'Ull Department. znay not be a sophisticated operbut this type of business enter:5 helping to solve a fore stry in south-central New Yor k , :::?portunity should be worth exelsewhere, for there's a lot in need of thinning, and surel y Details of a cabin built nostalgia for early Americana with "flattened" logs d to create a market for log as it nears completion. _~~u
SMOKEY BEAR TO STAR IN TV SERIES
(Photographs by Doublas M. Payne, Cornell's Department of Conservation. )
Sm okey Bear, alr eady one of the most famous symbols in the United States, is about to add more luster to his forest fire prevention image. He has just signed a long-term contract to star in a television cartoon series. The announcem ent was made r ecently at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D. C. ,by Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. FreeFrank Yaple, soon menandAmericanBroadcasting Comto be senior at the pany President Elton Rule. S. U. N. Y. College of The weekly half-hour films will be Forestry, Syracuse, shown for not less than two years on gains valuable pracABC Television Network Stations tical experience thinSaturday mornings, starting in Sepning this State-owned tember 1969. stand of larch near Not only will Smokey be continuhis Speedsville home. ing his 23-year campaign for caution with fire, he will also be helping to establish a trend against violence in programming for young television viewers. SecretaryFreemanandABC President Rule said the programs
SOME REFLECTIONS ON PLANTATION ESTABLISHMENT AND MANAGEMENT by Arthur B. Flick, Jr., Forester, Forest District No.4, Bath, N. Y. New York State Cons ervation Dept. Presented at 50th Anniversary Celebration, New York Section, Society of American Foresters, February 22, 1968, Lake Luzerne, New York. Recently, I received a letter from an absentee land owner who, during the early days of the reforestation movement in New York, had purchased an abandoned farm in an area of extremely poor soils. It was a real scorcher - -the kind of letter that should be mailed in an asbestos envelope! The gentleman had engaged a service forester to counsel him on what to do with his open acres, and the decis ion reached was to reforest them. In the years that followed the trees seemingly were growing happily out in the old fields along with the poplar and thornapple--that is, untilhe contacted me about thinning the plantation under the ACP cost-sharing program. What I found when I visited the plantation were Scotch pines spaced 5' x 5' - - and survival close to 100 percent. To say the stand looked "scraggly" would be an understatement. There was scarcely a 'place where a man couldn't lie on his back would be designed in a "non-violent comedy-adventure format. " Each of the half-hour programs will consist of three individual, selfcontained stories. The first and third sections will place Smokey in the starring adventure roles. The middle segment will feature smokey as a cub, along with his forest friends, also as youngsters. Each of the programs will be introduced by a theme song describing how Smokey Bear became the symbol of forest fire prevention, and each will include an educational message about conservation woven into the story and a dire.ct forest fire prevention message from Smokey. The announcement of the televis ion series is another triumph in a year of triumphs for Smokey. On April 18, the first nationwide survey of his effectiveness in educating the public showed he is one of the most popular symbols in the Nation. (Source: USDA, Washington July 30, 1968)
and watch a crow fly over without ever losing sight of it. "Well, what do you think?", the proud owner asked. "When can we expect to harvest some timber out of here? " What do you tell a man when he has a real "Frankenstein" for a plantation? Do you level with him? Or do you suggest that the stand is not ready for thinning- -then hope you will get transferred before the matter comes up again? I chose to level- -in part becaus e a corner of my mind recalled that, inmany cases, the timber owner is led into these situations by a forester and his recommendations. "My friend," I replied as calmly as I could, "not only is there no future for this stand, there is darned little pr e sent. " Even though I spared him the anguish of adding that no self-respecting rabbit or grouse would be caught dead in such an unhealthy environment, it was quite an experience to see this taxpaying landowner go into orbin when he received the bad news. It was a blazing prelude to the letter I received just recently. My first meaningful plantation experience came at the age of 14 when, decked out in a new hunting coat and sporting a single-barrel shotgun, I accompanied my father to a Catskill Mountain reforestation area and baggedmy first snowshoe hare. This and similar experiences taught me that there is a clos e relationship between wildlife and trees--or, if you will, between flora and fauna. When you manipulate orie, you manipulate the other. My second meaningful plantation experience came several years later and involved a delightful young Irish las s whom I met one weekend while a student
at the State Ranger
School
at Wanakena. We spent several enjoyable Sunday afternoons in neighboring Adirondack Plantations exploring areas other than those of forest product production and wildlife management. This created an awareness that plantations also made fine recreation areas. Though unprofessional, these experiences had a profound influence on my future - -and in the judgment I have used since in my work as aforester. Parents in some Far Eastern countries still select marriage partners for their sons and daughters-and the matches and mis -matches that result would amaze you. SimilarIy , we as foresters, by our counsel and recommendations, implement the
process by which a landowner becomes a plantation owner. And once the plantation is established, he has to live with it. Like marriage, it can be a rewarding experience or a nightmare. There are alternatives, of course. The stand can be modified, but this is expensive--and discouraging. It can be ignored--only there are reminders twice a year that he is paying taxes on an area that is failing to cut the mustard. As a last resort, it canbe sold--andthe headache passed along to someone else. For some reason, when a forester looks at an open area he is obsessed with the idea of stuffing it full of trees. Is this its wis est and be st us e? Should it be planted at all? If so, was anything other than the production of wood products considered when the planting recommendations were made? What about game management, recreation, its relationship to future development of, say, a pond? More often than not, if even the most obvious of these things is considered, planting recommendations could be modified with negligible loss in actual pr oduction of wood pr oducts. If we do not consider all of these things, we are not doing our job as foresters. Existing plantations, it seems to me, tell the story. In all too many cases we foresters have missed the boat. If there is a question of capability, if additional training is called (continued
on page 5)
SERVICES TO LANDOWNERS Rural Electrification Administration Supplys credit guidance and technical advice. Rural Community Development Service Coordinates services available to local RAD committees developing recreation. Cooperative Extension Service Provides information, advice, and guidance to landowners and rural development groups. Economic Research Service Conducts surveys and studies to help landowners decide which enterprises will be profitable. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Provides cost-sharing for conservation practices and adjustment payments.
(continued
fr om page 4)
for--then let's get it. Or at least we should collaborate with those who have it and compromise on our management and planting recommendations. There is no reas on why a tree, simply because it is a spruce, has to be planted 6' x 6', or a red pine, for the same reason, 8' x 8'. In our management plans we say "Plant pure blocks of red pine and larch 8' x 8'. In hardwoods cut the beech, the ironwood, the poplar." The wildlife biologist comes along and says "Plant Norway spruce and white pine 12' x 12', interspersed with locust; cut the maple, the ash and the bas swood and favor the beech, the poplar and the thornapple. " Is it any. wonder landowners become confused? I think we owe them something more than we are giving them. Let's face it, many plantations are not doing their job. It is high time we gave serious thoughttowhatwe, as foresters, can do to change this picture. We can benefit from past mistakes, and see to it that future plantations will be of multiple benefit, planned benefit, to mankind. We must face up to our responsibility to the people. Future generations of foresters will be spared the discomfort of receiving letters in asbestos envelopes if we start the ball rolling- -now! CANADIAN NEWSPRINT Untilthesecondhalf of 1967, Canada's exports of newsprint increas ed both in the United States and in the rest of the world. As a result of increasing capacity for newsprint production in other parts of the world Canadian newsprint exports until 1970 will be less than the peak 7.8 million tons shipped in 1966. During 1968 some improvement is expected in overseas markets, with total newsprint exports projected at 7.4 million tons. The United States consumes 85 per cent of Canadian newsprint production. By 1969 the U. S. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce projects that U. S. newsprint imports will decline from 75 per cent in 1966 to 68 per cent of requirements. The decrease will result from the 1. 0 million ton increase in U. S. newsprint capaicty from its present 2. 3 million tons. Atthesametime, Canada's newsprint capacity will increase from 8.9 million tons (! 966) to an estimated 10.1 million tons. Since U. S. increased capacity is expected to more
DEMANDS ON CANADIAN & U.S. FORESTS The U. S. Forest Service has projected that the consumption of all industrial wood products in the United States in cubic feet of roundwood equivalent will, under-stated assumptions, increase by 95 per cent from 1962 to the year 2000 and that primary fuelwood consumption would decline by 52 per cent. No similar projections are available for Canada, but if one assumes that the percentage changes will be the same as those projected for the United States, total North American domestic consumption of wood products and primary fuelwood in the year 2000 might represent a roundwood equivalent of about 23. 5 billion cubic feet. This would still be some 4 billion cubic feet below the estimated total of annual growth in the United States plus allowable cut in Canada in 1962. If present trends in forestry continue, this surplus over the proj ected total domestic consumption could rise to 6 billion cubic feet or more by 2000. These data suggest that, aside from the less than 1 per cent of consumption based on tropical hardwoods, North Americanforests could sustain almost a doubling of domestic consumption of industrial wood products and a 300 to 400 per cent increase in exports by the year 2000. Such an expansion, however, could not come from a simple across -theboard increase of the existing forest products. The mix of species, sizes, physical characteristics, and economiclocations of the timber available for such expanded outputs differs widely from the mix represented by the current cut. Major changes must take place in processing techniques, in product development, and in marketing if the forest product industries are to expand on the existing timber base. But with such changes much of what is now simply a physical material can become an economic resource. (Source: Annual Rep-ort 1967 Resources for the Future) than meet additional U. S. requirements, it is unlikely Canada's newsprint exports tothe U. S. will increase in the near future. During the next few years, Cana dian newsprint companies will make strong efforts to increase sales overseas. The Newsprint As sociation of Canada expects overseas sales to increase starting 1968. Some increase in sales is expected to the United Kingdome. In addition to regular European
In the Adirondack Forest Pres erve, the State Cons ervation Department operates 35 public campsites with over 4,600 individual tent and trailer sites. TREE SPACING STUDIES IN THE MARITIMES (CANADA) Four small-scale planted spacing experiments were established in 1967 by the Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Maritimes Region. The design used was developed by J. A. NeIder (Biometrics, 1962) and is called Grid lA. Trees are planted in straight lines, that radiate from a centre point, like the spokes of a wheel, the distance between adjoining seedlings increasing outwards. As the distance between spokes increases in the same proportion as the increasing distance between seedlings, the space allotted to each planted tree remains approximately square. The first and last seedlings on each spoke are guard frees on which no growth data are collected later. One NeIder spacing experiment of the kind chosen occupies about 1.4 acres and requires 720 seedlings while providing 48 replications of individual trees planted at 13 different spacings, ranging from 2.4 feet to 13.3 feet (more spacings are possible). By contrast, a conventional straight -line plantation set out at four spacings (4 x 4, 5 x 6, 7 x 7 and 8 x 8) each on two acres requires a total of eight acres and 11,500 seedlings and would not provide information equivalent to one NeIde r experiment. The saving in time, space and planting stock is of considerable benefit. One-of the plantations is located in the Department's Acadia Forest Experiment Station, about 14 miles from Fredericton, N. B., and the remaining three are in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. Additional Nel de r Grid lA layouts are to be established in southwestern Nova Scotia in 1968. (Source: Research News, Dept. of Forestry and Rural Development Canada May-June, 1968) markets, sales have increased considerably to Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland. Sales have also greatly increased in South and Central America and Asia. Substantial sales have been made in Mexico, ArVenezuela, the gentina, Columbia. Australia, and Philippines, India, South Africa. (Source: Research News, Dept. of Forestry and Rural Development Canada May-June, 1968)
ON BREATHING, NATIONALISM, IDEOLOGY "If the scientists are to be believed, we can do ourselves in as thoroughly be failing to control the atmosphere as by failing to control nuclear weapons. In such a world, a rational diplomacy might regard the balance of nature as being -- for the present, at lease - - as important as the balance of power. However that may be, and whatever moral and political judgments may be made on American policy in Vietnam, one is compelled to recognize that the war there is, except as it hinders the practice of a rational diplomacy, monumentally irrelevanttowhat should be the priorities of policy in 1968 ... "The problems posed by power do
not begin to compare in significance or urgency to the problems of survival. .. If we cansay with any assurance that nationalism transcends ideology, we can say with complete assurance that breathing transcends both ... The costs of the war require this country, richer by far than any other and, as a consequence of its technology, bearing a heavy responsibility for the new threats to life, to contribute far less than it should to the efforts to manage the new crises. " (Source: Richard Rovere, The New Yorker, February 24, 1968.)
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF UNDERCLIFF ROAD by Daniel Smiley and Frank E. Egler. The Mohonk Trust, Educational Release No.1, 1968. Photographs by Happy Kitchel Hamilton and Virginia V. Smiley.
a 65-year old carriage path, easy to walk, and conducive to the ecosystem kind of study. This little manual gives the history and background of the road, then takes the visitor ona word-and-picture tour of 17 stations. Each is des cribed with technical accuracy, but in easily understandable language. Illustrations, referred to in the copy, make comprehension even easier. The manual was meant to be a guide book, but it makes good armchair reading as well.
One of the drawbacks of the selfguided nature walk is that there's nobody to answer the questions. What is thattree, or flower? Why do you suppose that rock looks that way? The trustees of the Mohonk Trust must know what it's like to have unanswered questions. This new guidebook, published by the Trust, has the answers in advance. Under cliff Road is 4-1/2 miles west of New Palt z , New York, just below the southwest escarpment of the Shawangunk (pronounced "Shongum") Mountains. It is a 2-1/4 mile, level path across talus slopes. The road is
President: John W. Stock Tupper Lake, NoYo 12986 Editor: Nancy Clarke Gridley 1021 Westcott St. Syracuse, NoY. 13210 Treasurer-Membership Mrs. Luella B. Palmer 157 Ballantyne Rd. Syracuse, N. Y. 13205
Secretary
In New York State, 250,000 private landowners own all but eight percent of the total commercial forest land.
The Natural History of Under cliff Road is available at $1. 00 per copy from the Trust office. Write to Mohonk Lake, New Paltz, New York 12561. Daniel Smiley, one of the Trust Administrators, suggests a Woods Walk on Undercliff Road. Those interested might send a note saying so to Professor Carlson. - Nancy Gridley
EXOTICS: NEW FORESTS FOR TOMORROW? Future generations landers may utilize species of trees which today can be found only in search plots in this region. A stepped up program of trails exotic tree species has been under taken by the Department of Forestry and Rural Development after it was found that more research on new introductions might result in locating successful exotic species. Native black spruce and balsam are now the only two major commercial species, and the fir is sufferi severe and repeated insect attack. The first step in the trial progr was to prepar e a list of pos sible intr oductions. This included all c mercially important species from r gions of the world with climate s lar to that of Newfoundland. Seed samples were procured as much information as possible the origin was requestedfrom the c tributing region. After trials in a tree nur sery, species which showed promise, e. Sitka spruce, were transplanted seedlings western, foundland. Detailed studies will be mainta on these transplant areas to deter mine how the different exotice form in their new environment. The exotic tree trails are a 1 term project ofthe Newfoundland Re gion. By 1975 it should be possi to say which of the species tested a reasonable chance of growing i new forests to augment the exis stands.
F. FRA 'f( :" Liw~路.;
MAY 2 ~