370 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



FORESTRY. 



Report of the chief of the Bureau of Forestry of the Philippine Islands, 

 G. P. Ahern (Philippine Bur. Forestry Rpt. 1904, pp. 68, pis. 25, map 1). — This is an 

 account of the inspection service and forest management in the various districts of 

 the Philippine Islands, with a statement of the licenses granted, amount of timber 

 cut, the results secured in the timber-testing laboratory, the forest products of the 

 islands for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1004, average Manila prices of timber and 

 lumber, etc. 



Some work is being done in the growing of tropical and deciduous fruits, forage 

 plants, and the maintenance of forest nurseries. The details of physical tests of 13 

 Borneo woods are also included in the report. 



Report on the examination of a forest tract in western North Carolina, 

 F. W. Reed ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. of Forestry Bui. 60, pp. 32, ph. <;, map 1). — This 

 report gives the results of a careful examination of a tract of about 16,000 acres lying 

 in the mountains of western North Carolina. 



The prevailing timbers in different parts of this tract are mapped, the products 

 which they will yield noted, and specific directions given regarding their manage- 

 ment as a source of revenue and the maintenance of the present natural beauty of a 

 large portion of the tract. The bulletin is an illustration of the method of the Bureau 

 of examining private forest lands and extending expert advice in their management. 



History of Austrian forestry, Laspeyres (Ztschr. Ford u. Jagdw., 37 (1905), 

 Nos. 1, pp. 30-42; 2, pp. 113-124). — In commemoration of the 50-years' reign of 

 Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, a jubilee history of the development of agricul- 

 ture and forestry in Austria for the years 1848 to 1898 was written. One of the 5 

 volumes deals with forestry. The extracts from this work given in this article relate 

 to the development of the forest industry and its constitution, the use of the forest, 

 sylviculture, forest management and protection, transportation of forest products, 

 and forest engineering. 



Investigations on the influence of kiln-drying at different temperatures on 

 the percentage germination of pine seed, Haack (Ztschr. Forsi u. Jagdw., 31 

 (190o), No. 5, jip. 296-312, dgms. 9). — A report is given upon the results of an 

 investigation upon the germinative ability of pine seeds gathered at different periods 

 in the fall and kiln-dried at different degrees of temperature. 



In these experiments seed gathered late in the fall germinated as well as seed 

 gathered the following March. Seed gathered the middle of August had a whitish 

 unripe appearance, was subject to mold, and gave a percentage germination of 80 to 

 92. A month later the seeds were more nearly rirje and gave a percentage germina^ 

 tion of 90 to 98. It is believed that by the beginning of November of every year 

 pine seeds have reached their full germinative ability. 



Seeds mechanically removed from the cones early in the season without drying 

 gave a higher percentage germination and germinated in half the time required for 

 dry seeds. March-gathered seed, kiln-dried at a temperature of 65° C. 7 2 hours, gave 

 a percentage germination of 78 to 87. When kiln-dried at 61° C. for 2 hours and the 

 temperature then gradually decreased to 55° C. for 9 hours the percentage germina- 

 tion was 94 to 97. 



With the more sappy cones gathered in December kiln-drying at 65° C. decreased 

 the percentage germination to 20 per cent. Even the seedlings that did grow when 

 the seed was dried at this temperature presented a stunted appearance. It was 

 determined that the maximum temperature at which these sappy fall cones may be 

 kiln-dried is 60° C. for 2 to 3 hours, decreasing then to 55 to 56° C. The optimum 

 temperature for such cones is placed at 49° C. Naked seeds were found able to with- 

 stand without injury to their germinative ability a much higher temperature and for 

 a longer period than seeds in the cones. 



