40 abstracts: forestry 



FORESTRY. — The preservative treatment of poles. Compiled by 

 William H. Kempfer. Forest Service Bulletin No. 84. Pp. 55, 

 with plates and diagrams. 1911. 



Present knowledge of the results of the creosote treatment of wooden 

 poles is based largely on treatments made by the pressure method, using 

 from 8 to 12 pounds, or more, of creosote to a cubic foot of timber. The 

 expense incident to such treatment has been the chief hindrance to 

 its more general adoption for poles. Investigations of the Forest Ser- 

 vice have therefore been concerned with treatments which could be 

 applied locally without the erection of elaborate and extensive plants. 

 Much attention has also been given to the seasoning of poles, since proper 

 seasoning not only prepares poles to receive the preservative, but under 

 certain conditions may be in itself a means of increasing their durability. 



Seasoning of poles reduces their weight usually from 16 to 30 per cent, 

 and even more for some species. In general, poies cut during the spring 

 and summer lose weight most rapidly; those cut during the autumn and 

 winter lose less rapidly, but more regularly , 



Preservative applied to the surface of a pole by a brush may add from 

 one to two years to the life of timber, but permanent protection should 

 not be expected from the application of so small a quantity of preser- 

 vative. If the butt be more deeply impregnated, the life of the pole 

 will probably be limited by the life of the top rather than by that of the 

 butt. A life of 20 years for butt-treated chestnut and western cedar, and 

 22 years for northern white cedar poles is believed to be a conservative 

 estimate. In the drier western climate butt-treated pine poles can 

 probably be depended on to give 20 years' service. 



Impregnation of many pole timbers may be accomplished in open 

 tanks, without the use of artificial pressure, by immersion in hot and 

 cold preservatives, the cold following the hot. The open tank process 

 has the advantage that it is possible to apply the preservative to the 

 butts only, with a great saving in the creosote. Findley Burns. 



FORESTRY — Chaparral: Studies in the dwarf forests, or elfin-wood, 

 of Southern California. Fred G. Plummer. Forest Service Bulle- 

 tin No. 85. Pp. 50, with map, plates, and text figures. 1911. 



True chaparral is a type of plant formation which occurs in several 

 widely separated parts of the world. In the United States it is found in 

 southern California over an area of about 5,500,000 acres, along the axis 

 of the Sierra for a distance of about 450 miles. The formation is known 

 to plant ecologists as sclerophyllous woodland, and has many local 



