254 JOURNAI, OF FORESTRY 



produced by large, full-crowned trees, and, third, a fair amount of 

 rainfall during the first half of the first growing season. 



In drawing conclusions from the life history of these pine woodlots, 

 it is usually overlooked that the existing stands give no hint of the 

 number that failed to materialize through unfavorable influences. 

 Natural reproduction as managed by Nature is excessively costly in 

 seed, time, and wasted area. Nevertheless, in the hands of an experi- 

 enced man, with adequate local knowledge of soils and vegetation, 

 properly regulated, grazing should go a long way toward controlling 

 some of the factors essential to the reproduction of white pine. 



R. T. F. 



Girdling Forfst Trees with a Gasoline Torch 



The fact that a common gasoline blow-torch has been successfully 

 used in girdling trees leads to the conclusion that such an apparatus 

 may be of value in timber-sale operations. At Plainville, Ohio (1908), 

 where the torch was used to girdle such species as wallow^ locust, maple, 

 and hackberry, the operation was more successful than girdling trees 

 of the same size and species with an ax. Those girdled w^ere all thin- 

 barked species, ranging in diameter from 4 to 8 inches. The trees 

 girdled in late September made an effort to leaf out the following 

 spring, but succumbed entirely by the end of July. Those girdled with 

 an ax, but without removing the chip, remained living for a year, and 

 two of the trees (hackberry) successfully healed the wound in one or 

 two places. 



It seems that a torch of larger dimensions than that ordinarily found 

 on the market, or a special apparatus with supply tank slung on the 

 back with the burner attached to a flexible tube, could be designed to 

 meet the requirements of work in the woods. The operation could be 

 hastened by employing a semicircular burner, so that the flame may be 

 applied over a greater surface from one position. It is doubtful if this 

 method could be used in girdling thick-barked species of the older age 

 classes, such as yellow pine, larch, and Douglas fir; but it should be 

 possible to successfully girdle grand fir, hemlock, and other thin-barked 

 species of any age class. As a labor-saving device, it is believed the 

 method has considerable merit and should be experimentally demon- 

 strated on a large scale. 



James R. Weir. 



