FORESTRY QUARTERLY 



Vol. XIV December, 1916 No. 4 



SOME SUGGESTIONS ON THE CONTROL OF MISTLETOE 



IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF THE NORTHWEST 



By James R. Weir* 



Recent field studies have shown the need of some action being t^. 

 taken in the control of mistletoe in many of the Western National > "' 

 Forests.^ Although anyone familiar with the present difficulties 

 entailed in obtaining both a successful silvicultural and financial 

 restilt on the average sales area recognizes the futility of attempt- 

 ing many things known to be good forestry; still, some things can 

 be done. Very frequently conditions are such that no very 

 elaborate plans can be sustained, but it is the duty of the practi- 

 cal forester to seek out opportunities for applying the principles 

 which underlie the building up of a better forest, better in the 

 sense of less waste resulting from unchecked ravages of disease- 

 producing agents. It is a mistaken idea that all the forester has 

 to do is to continue harvesting mature timber, great as this neces- 

 sity may be, and plant denuded areas without some thought of 

 the future health of the forest. The present condition of mistle- 

 toe infection in many regions is far from what it should be to in- 

 sure the realization of the best and largest amoimt of merchantable 

 material. This is the result of long years of unchecked growth of 

 these parasites. It is an injury that will increase in intensity not 

 only because of the absence of any organized plan in forest manage- 



^ Forest Pathologist, U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry. 



2 Weir, James R. Larch Mistletoe: Some Economic Considerations of Its 

 Injurious Effects. U. S. Dept. of Agri. Bui. 317. January 20, 1916. 



Weir, James R. Mistletoe Injury to Conifers in the Northwest. U. S. 

 Dept. of Agri. Bui. 360. June 17, 1916. See other publications by the same 

 author. 



Meinecke, E. P. Forest Tree Diseases Common in California and Nevada. 

 Misc. Pub. U. S. Forest Service, pp. 54-58. 1914. 



Hedgcock, G. G. Notes on Some Diseases of Trees in Our National Forests. 

 Phytopathology 5:3, pp. 175-181. 1915. 



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