Mistletoe Control 575 



of importance on any of the more valuable species, this may be 

 worthy of consideration. In regions where the firs and hemlocks 

 are both seriously infected with mistletoes and fungi, with no 

 other species carrying mistletoe, the plan would be simple. Such 

 conditions for these species, however, are not common. In regions 

 where all species are so severely infected as to entail a great loss 

 in the quality and quantity of material, the loss in receipts due 

 to the sanitary regulation affecting all the merchantable species 

 could be considered justifiable in view of the needs of the 

 case. 



There is something to be gained by negotiating sales wherever 

 possible under the foregoing conditions from the standpoint of the 

 salutary effect it will have on purchasers of government timber. In 

 other words, it is educative. It took some time for the Service 

 to get the purchaser to see the value of, and to practise without 

 murmur, the much needed reforms in the disposal of the debris 

 of a sales area. Now, these conditions are accepted in most 

 cases without protest as a matter of course. This gradual edu- 

 cation of timber owners who go into the open market will no doubt 

 cause them to exercise similar precaution in the management of 

 their own holdings. 



Mistletoe-infected trees unless infected during late periods of 

 growth, are very often otherwise diseased. Very frequently 

 trees approaching the regvdation cutting percentage are left 

 standing when in reality there is considerable merchantable mate- 

 rial obtainable. A very large percentage of infected trees in a 

 severely infected region falls far below the amount of material 

 demanded by the cutting regulations. The unfortunate part of 

 it all is these infected trees are left on the area to spread disease 

 through the fimgi which they very often carry, to say nothing of 

 the infection of yoimg growth by mistletoe. There can be nothing 

 gained by leaving these near-merchantable trees with the ex- 

 pectation that by the time the next crop is cut something wiU be 

 realized on them. Those trees infected by fungi will never be 

 any better and, in fact, will be a total loss, while the mistletoe will 

 be stimulated to greater vigor. The immediate felling of all such 

 trees may result, as before stated, in some cases, in obtaining a 

 certain amount of merchantable material heretofore wasted. 

 This would tend to reduce the expense of falling trees having no 

 merchantable content whatever. The most important result 



