578 JOURXAL OF FORESTRY 



The use of National Forests for recreation purposes under charges 

 and by free permits, more than 20,000 of which are outstanding, has in 

 some cases become one of the major activities. 



Wide as the range of activities of the Forest Service appears from 

 the administrative point of view, it is still wider in the field of re- 

 search; a mere enumeration of the problems under examination would 

 fill a number of pages. We can cite only a few that have become im- 

 portant in connection with war purposes. 



Upon rupture of diplomatic relations with Germany, the Forest 

 Service began at once to plan for meeting the responsibilities which, 

 if war followed, it should assume. The first step was to ascertain the 

 qualifications of all male employees for various classes of service, in 

 order that readjustments of personnel and modification of activities 

 could be made without bringing to a halt a work no less important in 

 war time than in peace, for especially the release for war service of 

 such portion of its personnel as may be needed because of qualifications 

 for special forms of activity, or such as may be spared for military 

 service either as volunteers or under draft, and for the rendering of 

 advice or assistance to the War and Navy departments in matters re- 

 lating to the supply of materials derived from the forests and required 

 for war purposes was foreseen. 



The forester received leave of absence and was sent abroad by the 

 War Department to make preliminary arrangements for the work of 

 the Tenth Engineers (Forest) Regiment in France, and the recruiting 

 and officering of this regiment were immediately begun. 



Work on the wooden-ship problem included the technical use of 

 wood ; best methods of conditioning ; treatment against decay and 

 borers ; substitutes, etc. ; in fact, the whole field of timber physics is 

 under consideration. 



Demonstrations have shown that walnut and birch can be kiln-dried 

 for gun-stocks in much reduced time with comparatively little loss. 



In the important aircraft work the efforts of the Service included 

 the development of methods by which spruce and ash can be artificially 

 dried without loss of strength and toughness; tests to determine the 

 best substitutes for these species ; the study of effects of steaming on 

 mechanical properties of these woods to develop the best conditions 

 for bending; the selection of woods most suitable for propellers; advice 

 and assistance on specifications ; the training of inspectors of wood for 

 airplanes. 



Data for this work cannot be supplied with sufficient rapidity with 



