NOTES 09 



the mixture of species, present an infinite variety of silvicultural prob- 

 lems. Silviculture in the Southern Appalachians, however, in the last 

 analysis, boils itself down to a very simple proposition. The extreme 

 vigor of these forests, the readiness with which they reproduce them- 

 selves from sprout and from seed, and the rapid rate of growth, enable 

 them to recover c^uickly from the most destructive methods of cutting. 

 Repeated fires and heavy overgrazing are their only real enemies, and 

 with these eliminated heavy cutting does the forest little harm. 



A good many interesting logging engineering problems are presented 

 by the timber sales in the Southern Appalachians. The Government 

 has acquired many small tracts of practically virgin timber within easy 

 hauling distance from the railroad, most of which have been preserved 

 from previous logging by the extreme roughness of the topography and 

 difficulty of transportation. Flumes and tram roads are in some in- 

 stances found possible on account of the demand for lumber and the 

 present high prices. 



F. W. Reed. 



Red-beet Injury in Montana Forests 



A peculiar injury to forest trees on the Helena and Deerlodge Na- 

 tional Forests of Montana w^as reported early in 1918. Examination 

 by specialists in charge of insect control and forest pathology failed to 

 show that either insects or disease were the cause of the trouble, but 

 that it was a form of winter-killing known as the red-belt injury. E. E. 

 Hubert, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, made a detailed examination 

 of the afifected areas. 



This same condition has been previously noted in Montana and is 

 mentioned in a number of publications covering the winter-killing of 

 forest trees. The name is derived from the occurrence of the injury 

 as a belt or strip of killed or partly killed timber along the contour of 

 mountains and the brown color of the newly killed tree needles. 



In the 1918 appearance of the trouble the afifected strip was from 

 one-fourth to one-half mile in width and ran parallel to the valley floor. 

 Bordering large valleys, this strip lay at from 5.000 to 6,000 feet eleva- 

 tion, while near the heads of tributary valleys the altitude limits were 

 approximately 1,000 feet higher. 



Trees on the more exposed portions of the topography, standing 

 along or projecting above the general forest cover, were the ones most 

 injured. Damage was heaviest on the east, southeast, south, and south- 

 west exposures. All trees on the same site were not afifected to the 



