FORESTRY. 343 



Berkeley, Cal., and the University of Oregon. Eugene, Oreg. The data are pre- 

 sented in numerous tables and diagrams and further discussed under the follow- 

 ing headings: General results of tests; methods of test; bending tests; tests in 

 compression parallel to grain ; tests in compression perpendicular to grain ; 

 shearing tests ; average results of tests and variation of results ; relation of 

 phj'sical characteristics to mechanical properties, including a discussion of color, 

 weight, proportion of summerwood, rate of growth, and various defects; failure 

 under compression, cross-grain tension, tension, and horizontal shear ; grading 

 rules and specifications, including a discussion of these in their relation to the re- 

 sults of the mechanical tests; and seasoning, including the distribution of moisture 

 in green and air-seasoned specimens, rate of seasoning, shrinkage during season- 

 ing, effect of seasoning on strength, and failure in seasoned timber. The tests as a 

 whole are summarized. The results are of special interest to the users of 

 structural timber. 



Part 2, which deals with the commercial uses of the timber, is based on 

 information furnished by lumber manufacturers and other industrial concerns 

 that use Douglas fir. The special features given are relative to its preparation 

 and utilization for piling, poles, mine timbers, railway ties, bridge and trestle 

 timbers, timber for car construction, all kinds of lumber for houses, material 

 for the furniture maker and boat builder, cooperage, tanks, paving blocks, boxes, 

 pulpwood, fuel, and miscellaneous commodities, including wood for distillation. 



The Eucalyptus in Texas, J. H. Akbenz (Texas Dcpt. Agr. Buh, n. ser., 

 191 J, No. 8, pp. 9, figs. 5). — A brief statement is given relative to the behavior 

 of different species of eucalypts which have been tested in a number of places 

 In southwest Texas. During the severe weather in January, 1911, those trees 

 less than 3 years old were in most cases killed to the ground, the temperature 

 having ranged all the way from 12 to 20° F. With trees 4 years and more of 

 age, the greater number of the lateral branches were killed but the main 

 trunks escaped. 



Red gum (Eucalyptus rostruta) has been more widely planted than any other 

 variety and is considered a standard variety for south Texas. 



Gum, and resin yielding plants, H. J. de Cordemoy (Les Plant es a Gommes 

 et a Resines. Paris, 1911, pp. XIV+-'il2, figs. 15). — A handbook of informa- 

 tion relative to the botany and exploitation of the various gum, resin, and 

 gum-resin yielding plants, together with the chemistry of the various exuda- 

 tions, including information relative to their pi'incipal properties and characters 

 and their application in the industries and arts. 



[Rubber investigations], E. Y. Wilcox (Haicaii Sta. Rpt. 1910, pp. 17, 

 18). — Visits to all of the commercial rubber plantings in Hawaii during the year 

 revealed a satisfactory growth in the plantations located in various altitudes 

 up to 1,400 ft., above which elevation no commercial plantings have been made. 

 Ceara rubber grows much more rapidly than Hevea rubber, and it remains to 

 be determined whether the ultimate yield of Hevea will be sufficiently large 

 to make up for its slowness of growth. Trees which have received clean 

 cultivation since planting are larger at 2 years of age than 6-year-old trees 

 which have not been cultivated. Cultivation appears to be of particular value 

 in aerating the soil. 



Fustic wood: Its substitutes and adulterants, G. B. Sudwoeth and C. D. 

 Mell (U. »S'. Dept. Agr., Forest Serv. Circ. 184, PP- 14, fiffS- -'/)■ — The wood of 

 the fustic tree (Chloroplwra tinctoria), a native of the West Indies and 

 tropical America, which yields valuable yellow, brown, and gi-een dyestuffs, Is 

 frequently adulterated with or replaced by different woods, of which the more 

 important are the smoke tree {(Jotinus cotinus), osage orange (Toxylon 



