FOREST SERVICE. 411 



The £:atlierino: of data for tlie mappins: of the range of American 

 forest trees antl the distribution of woodlands in the United States 

 was continued. Denth'ological studies of structural characteristics of 

 North American woods, to the end that identilication of commercial 

 woods may be facilitated and made more certain, was also continued. 

 The latter work is of decided practical importance in that it provides 

 a means by which the purchaser of specified material may be assured 

 of the delivery of what he has contracted for, without substitulion of 

 an inferior or cheaper material. The results of this sort of informa- 

 tion were practically applied in determining for the Isthmian Canal 

 Commission the species of oak and hickory furnished or offered in 

 certain manufactured forms for use in the building of the Panama 

 Canal. The oak was in the form of dimension lumber delivered under 

 contracts, while the hickor.y was submitted as samples in connection 

 with bids for the supply of tool handles. It was found that red, 

 black, Spanish, and water oaks were frequently furnished for white 

 oak, and that in the manufacture of handles inferior species of hickory 

 were often used instead of white hickory. In connection with the 

 dendrological Avork advice was also given to the cities of Baltimore 

 and Richmond and the United States Naval Academy concerning 

 the pruning and care of trees. A large number of tree specimens 

 were identified in connection vdih the Forest Service work, for the 

 Biological Survey and other Government bureaus, and for the public. 

 The Forest Service herbarium and wood collections, which assist in 

 the identifications of woods and tree species, were enlarged. 



A new and hitherto undescribed species of cypress was discovered 

 in Arizona and given the name of Cnjyressus glabra. It is a forest- 

 forming species of local importance, which has hitherto not been dis- 

 tinguished from the Cupressus arizonica. 



In preparation for the issuing of the second volume in the series 

 dealing rcgionall}^ "with the forest trees of the United States both field 

 studies and office compilation of field data were continued. This 

 second volume will have for its subject ''Forest Trees of the Rock}?' 

 Mountains," and will be closely similar to the alread}^ published 

 "Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope." The work is expected to be 

 ready for publication before the close of the present fiscal year. 



STUDIES or FOREST PRODUCTS. 



The most important events of the year m connection with the 

 investigations or forest products have been the securing of greatly 

 enlarged facilities for laboratory work and the transfer of the Office 

 of Wood Utilization from "Washington to Chicago, where it is in much 

 closer touch with the great forest regions of the South, North, and 

 West, and with the iiulustries which use forest products. 



The chief work of the Branch of Products is to bring about the most 

 economical use of the material which the forest supplies. This is at 

 present impossible because of incomplete knowledge. The problems 

 are complex. Tliey arc deeply scientific and broadly commercial. 

 They can not be solved without thorough scientific investigation; and, 

 once obtained, the solutions can not be applied without a complete 

 knowledge of commercial conditions among the many diverse indus- 

 tries which make use of wood. The Forest Service now possesses 

 facilities which it has previously lacked for carryiug on fundamental 

 investigations of this kind under thoroughly favorable conditions. 



